CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $38.41.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of CarGurus from $26.50 to $38.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup upgraded CarGurus from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on CarGurus from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on CarGurus from $32.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on CarGurus from $30.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th.

CarGurus Stock Up 1.4 %

CARG opened at $39.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -86.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.59. CarGurus has a twelve month low of $21.18 and a twelve month high of $41.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Dafna Sarnoff sold 10,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.78, for a total value of $378,194.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 95,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,408,438.58. This represents a 9.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Matthew Todd Quinn sold 4,678 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 value of $167,378.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 195,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,005,545.10. This represents a 2.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 94,556 shares of company stock valued at $3,450,140 over the last quarter. 17.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of CarGurus

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CarGurus by 528.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in CarGurus by 246.6% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 2,318 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in CarGurus by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in CarGurus during the 4th quarter worth about $374,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of CarGurus by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 46,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,685,000 after acquiring an additional 3,006 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.