JPMorgan Chase & Co. Downgrades CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) to Neutral

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) was downgraded by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $34.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $42.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 17.97% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on CARG. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on CarGurus from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of CarGurus in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of CarGurus in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CarGurus has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.75.

CarGurus Stock Down 3.0 %

CARG opened at $28.82 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 160.12, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a 50 day moving average of $34.95 and a 200-day moving average of $34.27. CarGurus 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $228.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.72 million. CarGurus had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 27.14%. Equities analysts anticipate that CarGurus will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CarGurus

In other CarGurus news, COO Samuel Zales sold 9,857 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.62, for a total value of $360,963.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 434,821 shares in the company, valued at $15,923,145.02. This represents a 2.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 4,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.78, for a total value of $163,872.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,051 shares in the company, valued at $4,295,424.78. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,888 shares of company stock worth $2,229,388 in the last three months. 17.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CarGurus

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CARG. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of CarGurus by 243.3% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 73,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,681,000 after acquiring an additional 52,006 shares during the period. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of CarGurus during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $243,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 198,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,264,000 after buying an additional 46,298 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CarGurus in the fourth quarter worth $480,000. Finally, Tybourne Capital Management HK Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 165.4% in the fourth quarter. Tybourne Capital Management HK Ltd. now owns 265,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,696,000 after buying an additional 165,365 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

CarGurus Company Profile

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.