Maplebear Inc. (NASDAQ:CART) Short Interest Up 13.9% in December

Maplebear Inc. (NASDAQ:CART) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,190,000 shares, a growth of 13.9% from the November 30th total of 11,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,610,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days. Currently, 7.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Fidji Simo sold 20,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.39, for a total transaction of $921,092.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,803,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,047,510.42. This represents a 1.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Morgan Fong sold 11,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.97, for a total value of $486,635.25. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 287,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,360,707.23. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 112,128 shares of company stock worth $4,980,404 in the last quarter. 36.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Maplebear

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in shares of Maplebear by 370.9% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 859,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,996,000 after acquiring an additional 676,605 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Maplebear by 182.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 272,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,692,000 after purchasing an additional 176,137 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Maplebear in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Maplebear during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,922,000. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Maplebear by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. 63.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CART has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Maplebear from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Maplebear from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Maplebear from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Maplebear from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Maplebear from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.14.

Maplebear Stock Down 1.5 %

Maplebear stock traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.42. 1,749,623 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,956,815. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.94. Maplebear has a fifty-two week low of $22.13 and a fifty-two week high of $50.01.

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.20. Maplebear had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 13.37%. The company had revenue of $852.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $844.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($20.86) earnings per share. Maplebear’s revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Maplebear will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

About Maplebear

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.