Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Maplebear Inc. (NASDAQ:CART - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $58.00 to $61.00. The stock had previously closed at $39.80, but opened at $43.52. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Maplebear shares last traded at $44.00, with a volume of 2,831,644 shares trading hands.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on CART. FBN Securities initiated coverage on Maplebear in a research note on Friday, March 28th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $44.00 price target on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Maplebear in a report on Friday, April 11th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Maplebear from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $58.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Maplebear from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Maplebear from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Morgan Fong sold 5,249 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.57, for a total transaction of $223,449.93. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 484,292 shares in the company, valued at $20,616,310.44. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Fidji Simo sold 2,033 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $81,320.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,654,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $66,182,360. This represents a 0.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,165 shares of company stock valued at $1,541,785 in the last quarter. Insiders own 26.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Maplebear

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CART. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Maplebear by 46.6% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 698 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Maplebear by 35.1% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,058 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Maplebear by 27.1% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,335 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Maplebear by 18.6% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,056 shares of the company's stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Maplebear by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 74,846 shares of the company's stock worth $2,986,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.09% of the company's stock.

Maplebear Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $40.28 and a 200 day moving average of $43.52. The company has a market capitalization of $11.85 billion, a PE ratio of 30.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.19.

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.01). Maplebear had a net margin of 13.37% and a return on equity of 13.78%. The business had revenue of $897.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $896.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. Maplebear's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Maplebear Inc. will post 1.43 EPS for the current year.

About Maplebear

Maplebear Inc, doing business as Instacart, engages in the provision of online grocery shopping services to households in North America. It sells and delivers grocery products, as well as pickup services through a mobile application and website. It also operates virtual convenience stores; and provides software-as-a-service solutions to retailers.