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

JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has $34.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $42.00.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on CARG. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of CarGurus in a report on Monday, December 16th. Oppenheimer reduced 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of CarGurus in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.75.

CarGurus Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of CarGurus stock opened at $28.82 on Thursday. CarGurus has a 12-month low of $21.18 and a 12-month high of $41.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 160.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $34.95 and its 200-day moving average is $34.32.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $228.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.72 million. Analysts expect that CarGurus will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at CarGurus

In related news, CMO Dafna Sarnoff sold 10,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 95,261 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Samuel Zales sold 9,857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.62, for a total value of $360,963.34. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 434,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,923,145.02. This trade represents a 2.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 61,888 shares of company stock valued at $2,229,388. 17.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CarGurus

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CARG. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of CarGurus in the third quarter worth $28,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in CarGurus by 198.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in CarGurus by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 912 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in CarGurus by 82.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of CarGurus in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 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.