Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) Stock

Key Points

• CarGurus' stock price target has been increased from $39.00 to $44.00 by Needham & Company LLC, suggesting a potential upside of 48.17% from its current price.
• Multiple brokerages have provided varying ratings on CarGurus, with seven analysts giving it a hold rating and six a buy rating, reflecting uncertainty in the stock's performance.
• CarGurus reported $234.03 million in revenue and $0.57 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, and indicated a 7.0% year-over-year revenue growth.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $39.00 to $44.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target suggests a potential upside of 43.29% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CARG. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of CarGurus in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of CarGurus from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of CarGurus from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of CarGurus in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Gordon Haskett assumed coverage on shares of CarGurus in a report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.13.

CarGurus Stock Performance

Shares of CarGurus stock traded up $1.06 on Friday, hitting $30.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 554,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,042,561. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.42. CarGurus has a 1 year low of $24.65 and a 1 year high of $41.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.06.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $234.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $232.29 million. CarGurus had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 36.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that CarGurus will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CarGurus

In other CarGurus news, insider Ismail Elshareef sold 5,246 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.37, for a total value of $164,567.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 107,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,356,809.59. This represents a 4.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Javier Zamora sold 6,154 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $215,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 92,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,248,245. The trade was a 6.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,049 shares of company stock worth $1,616,397. 17.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CarGurus

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of CarGurus by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 47,145 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,723,000 after buying an additional 5,389 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in shares of CarGurus by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 221,857 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,107,000 after purchasing an additional 25,157 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in CarGurus by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,206 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,323,000 after purchasing an additional 10,614 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in CarGurus by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 104,660 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,825,000 after purchasing an additional 18,989 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in CarGurus by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 20,252 shares of the company's stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 1,317 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.