Needham & Company LLC Upgrades Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) to “Buy”

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) was upgraded by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price points to a potential upside of 20.56% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Maplebear in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Maplebear from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays increased their price target on Maplebear from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Macquarie boosted their price objective on Maplebear from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Maplebear from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Maplebear has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.31.

Maplebear Trading Up 4.4 %

CART stock opened at $46.45 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $11.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.57. Maplebear has a 1-year low of $22.70 and a 1-year high of $50.01.

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $852.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $844.03 million. Maplebear had a net margin of 13.37% and a return on equity of 13.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($20.86) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Maplebear will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Maplebear

In related news, CAO Alan Ramsay sold 2,559 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.97, for a total value of $109,960.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 96,666 shares in the company, valued at $4,153,738.02. The trade was a 2.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Morgan Fong sold 11,325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.97, for a total transaction of $486,635.25. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 287,659 shares in the company, valued at $12,360,707.23. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 112,128 shares of company stock worth $4,980,404 over the last three months. 36.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Maplebear

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CART. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Maplebear in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Huntington National Bank bought a new position in shares of Maplebear during the third quarter valued at about $54,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Maplebear in the third quarter worth about $74,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Maplebear by 269.5% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 2,865 shares during the period. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Maplebear in the 3rd quarter valued at about $212,000. 63.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Maplebear Company Profile

Maplebear Inc, doing business as Instacart, engages in the provision of online grocery shopping services to households in North America. It sells and delivers grocery products, as well as pickup services through a mobile application and website. It also operates virtual convenience stores; and provides software-as-a-service solutions to retailers.