Magnetar Financial LLC Makes New Investment in CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG)

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 7,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CARG. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new position in CarGurus in the 3rd quarter worth $247,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CarGurus by 45.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 94,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,851,000 after purchasing an additional 29,674 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CarGurus by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 23,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 7,393 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of CarGurus in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,072,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CarGurus in the 3rd quarter valued at about $673,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

CarGurus Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CARG opened at $30.11 on Monday. CarGurus, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.18 and a fifty-two week high of $41.33. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.26. The company has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 167.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.52.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.06). CarGurus had a return on equity of 27.14% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm had revenue of $228.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.72 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that CarGurus, Inc. will post 1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CARG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of CarGurus from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of CarGurus from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of CarGurus in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of CarGurus in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CarGurus currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CarGurus news, CTO Matthew Todd Quinn sold 4,678 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.78, for a total value of $167,378.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 195,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,005,545.10. This represents a 2.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Samuel Zales sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 owns 400,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,344,959. This trade represents a 4.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 61,888 shares of company stock worth $2,229,388. Insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

CarGurus 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.