CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) Rating Lowered to Hold at Zacks Research

Key Points

• CarGurus' stock rating has been downgraded from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" by Zacks Research, following several other mixed ratings from various brokerages.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings showed revenue growth of 7.0% year-over-year, with an EPS of $0.57, exceeding analyst expectations.
• Insider trading activity has seen significant sales, with one insider selling nearly 10,000 shares in October, reflecting a decrease in personal stock holdings.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on CARG. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of CarGurus from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of CarGurus in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Gordon Haskett started coverage on shares of CarGurus in a report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CarGurus from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of CarGurus from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.54.

CarGurus Price Performance

NASDAQ:CARG opened at $34.92 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.52. CarGurus has a one year low of $24.65 and a one year high of $41.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.40.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $234.03 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.29 million. CarGurus had a return on equity of 36.23% and a net margin of 14.12%.CarGurus's revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. CarGurus has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.500-0.580 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that CarGurus will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Ladd Hanson sold 9,998 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total value of $368,726.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 54,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,021,282.16. This trade represents a 15.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Samuel Zales sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total transaction of $360,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 441,821 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,940,901.68. The trade was a 2.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,998 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,726 in the last three months. Insiders own 16.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CARG. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 35.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,196 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in CarGurus by 49.8% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,494 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in CarGurus by 237,430.8% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 731,595 shares of the company's stock worth $21,312,000 after purchasing an additional 731,287 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in CarGurus by 37.7% in the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 76,095 shares of the company's stock worth $2,217,000 after purchasing an additional 20,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in CarGurus by 2.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 482,484 shares of the company's stock worth $14,055,000 after purchasing an additional 10,787 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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