Ameriprise Financial Inc. Buys 9,401 Shares of CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG - Free Report) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 316,284 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,401 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.30% of CarGurus worth $11,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CARG. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 168.7% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,524,478 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,704,000 after acquiring an additional 957,035 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in CarGurus by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,145,350 shares of the company's stock worth $261,091,000 after buying an additional 802,602 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in CarGurus during the 4th quarter worth $19,465,000. Oberweis Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in CarGurus during the 4th quarter worth $18,270,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CarGurus during the 4th quarter worth about $14,369,000. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CarGurus Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ CARG traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.15. 499,157 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 875,727. CarGurus, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.65 and a 1 year high of $41.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.79. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 173.07, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.45.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.04. CarGurus had a return on equity of 27.14% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company had revenue of $225.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $226.72 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that CarGurus, Inc. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CarGurus

In related news, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 1,824 shares of CarGurus stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.73, for a total transaction of $48,755.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,286.70. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Samuel Zales sold 10,000 shares of CarGurus stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.29, for a total value of $282,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 493,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,957,776.78. This represents a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,824 shares of company stock valued at $907,856. 16.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities decreased their price objective on CarGurus from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on CarGurus from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut CarGurus from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on CarGurus from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on CarGurus from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.95.

CarGurus 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.