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

JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG - Free Report) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $34.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $42.00.

CARG has been the subject of a number of other reports. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of CarGurus in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of CarGurus in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on CarGurus from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.75.

CarGurus Trading Up 0.5 %

CARG stock traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $28.97. The stock had a trading volume of 275,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 815,799. CarGurus has a 52-week low of $21.18 and a 52-week high of $41.33. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $34.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.32. The company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 160.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.52.

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CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $228.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.72 million. CarGurus had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 27.14%. Sell-side analysts predict that CarGurus will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at CarGurus

In other news, COO Samuel Zales sold 9,857 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.62, for a total transaction of $360,963.34. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 434,821 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,923,145.02. This represents a 2.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 4,580 shares of CarGurus stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.78, for a total transaction of $163,872.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 120,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,295,424.78. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 61,888 shares of company stock worth $2,229,388. 17.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CarGurus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in CarGurus in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of CarGurus by 198.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 800 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of CarGurus by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 912 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of CarGurus by 82.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 937 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in CarGurus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company's stock.

About CarGurus

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.