Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 10,787 Shares of CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 482,484 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,787 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.46% of CarGurus worth $14,055,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CARG. GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new position in CarGurus in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in CarGurus by 49.8% in the 1st 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. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 695.4% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,593 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 2,267 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the company's stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 246.6% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,258 shares of the company's stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,318 shares during the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CarGurus Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:CARG traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.81. 965,488 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 875,322. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.71. CarGurus, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.65 and a 12 month high of $41.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.44.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CARG shares. Citizens Jmp lowered CarGurus from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on CarGurus from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of CarGurus in a report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered CarGurus from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of CarGurus in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $37.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Dafna Sarnoff sold 4,168 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total transaction of $137,919.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 115,183 shares in the company, valued at $3,811,405.47. This trade represents a 3.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 4,369 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total value of $144,570.21. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 121,584 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,023,214.56. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,140 shares of company stock worth $1,550,608. 17.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.