CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $33.36, but opened at $37.75. CarGurus shares last traded at $35.58, with a volume of 165,311 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on CarGurus from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of CarGurus from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of CarGurus from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of CarGurus from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on CarGurus from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.59.

CarGurus Stock Up 5.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of -71.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $30.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.80.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $218.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $214.85 million. CarGurus had a negative net margin of 5.57% and a positive return on equity of 11.06%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CarGurus, Inc. will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at CarGurus

In related news, COO Samuel Zales sold 25,168 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total transaction of $795,812.16. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 449,821 shares in the company, valued at $14,223,340.02. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Samuel Zales sold 25,168 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total value of $795,812.16. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 449,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,223,340.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Dafna Sarnoff sold 3,107 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.42, for a total value of $88,300.94. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 128,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,664,815.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 61,065 shares of company stock valued at $1,823,794. Company insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CarGurus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CARG. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in CarGurus in the third quarter worth $1,072,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of CarGurus in the 3rd quarter worth about $206,000. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in CarGurus by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 23,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 7,393 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in CarGurus by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in CarGurus during the 3rd quarter valued at about $608,000. Hedge funds and other 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.