Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Stock Position in CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its position in shares of CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG - Free Report) by 88.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,299 shares of the company's stock after selling 184,129 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in CarGurus were worth $708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CARG. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in CarGurus by 168.7% during 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 raised its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,145,350 shares of the company's stock worth $261,091,000 after purchasing an additional 802,602 shares during the last quarter. No Street GP LP acquired a new position in CarGurus during the fourth quarter valued at $25,578,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in CarGurus in the fourth quarter valued at $19,465,000. Finally, Oberweis Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in CarGurus during the 4th quarter worth about $18,270,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at CarGurus

In related news, COO Samuel Zales sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.29, for a total transaction of $282,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 493,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,957,776.78. This represents a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 1,824 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.73, for a total value of $48,755.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,286.70. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,335 shares of company stock valued at $1,149,376. Corporate insiders own 16.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on CARG. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on CarGurus from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JMP Securities lowered their price target on shares of CarGurus from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CarGurus from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $42.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of CarGurus from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of CarGurus in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Three equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CarGurus presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.95.

CarGurus Trading Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:CARG traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $32.10. 1,650,226 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 867,926. CarGurus, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.65 and a fifty-two week high of $41.33. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 91.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.14.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.04. CarGurus had a net margin of 4.28% and a return on equity of 32.54%. The business had revenue of $225.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $226.72 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CarGurus, Inc. will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

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.