CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $33.36, but opened at $37.75. CarGurus shares last traded at $35.58, with a volume of 165,311 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CARG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of CarGurus in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of CarGurus from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of CarGurus from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of CarGurus from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of CarGurus from $32.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.59.

CarGurus Trading Up 4.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -70.26, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.55. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $30.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.80.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.07. CarGurus had a negative net margin of 5.57% and a positive return on equity of 11.06%. The company had revenue of $218.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $214.85 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CarGurus, Inc. will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at CarGurus

In other news, CMO Dafna Sarnoff sold 3,107 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.42, for a total transaction of $88,300.94. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 128,952 shares in the company, valued at $3,664,815.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CMO Dafna Sarnoff sold 3,107 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.42, for a total value of $88,300.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 128,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,664,815.84. This represents a 0.00 % 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 this link. Also, CTO Matthew Todd Quinn sold 3,495 shares of CarGurus stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total value of $102,857.85. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 205,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,053,633.28. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,065 shares of company stock worth $1,823,794 in the last three months. Company insiders own 17.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CARG. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of CarGurus during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,072,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CarGurus during the third quarter valued at $206,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 46.6% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 23,248 shares of the company's stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 7,393 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of CarGurus by 34.0% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,397 shares of the company's stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of CarGurus in the 3rd quarter worth about $608,000. 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.