PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Boosts Stake in CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,806 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,999 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in CarGurus were worth $760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of CarGurus during the third quarter worth $28,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in CarGurus by 198.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in CarGurus by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in CarGurus by 82.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in CarGurus in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CarGurus from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer cut their price target on CarGurus from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of CarGurus in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of CarGurus in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CarGurus presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CarGurus news, CMO Dafna Sarnoff sold 10,570 shares of CarGurus stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.78, for a total transaction of $378,194.60. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 95,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,408,438.58. The trade was a 9.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Samuel Zales sold 20,000 shares of CarGurus stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total transaction of $767,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 400,025 shares in the company, valued at $15,344,959. The trade was a 4.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,888 shares of company stock valued at $1,921,588 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

CarGurus Stock Up 1.1 %

CARG stock opened at $31.13 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $36.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 172.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.52. CarGurus, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.18 and a 52-week high of $41.33.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $228.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.72 million. CarGurus had a return on equity of 27.14% and a net margin of 2.34%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CarGurus, Inc. will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

About CarGurus

CarGurus, Inc operates an online automotive platform for buying and selling vehicles in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, U.S. Marketplace and Digital Wholesale. The company provides an online automotive marketplace where customers can search for new and used car listings from its dealers and sell their car to dealers and other consumers; and paid listings subscriptions for enhanced access to its marketplace that connects dealers to a large audience of informed and engaged consumers.