Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) Stock

Key Points

• Needham & Company LLC has raised its price target for Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) from $56.00 to $66.00, highlighting a potential upside of 33.63% from the company's previous close.
• Following the earnings report on August 7th, Maplebear reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.41, surpassing estimates and indicating a 11.1% revenue increase year-over-year.
• Currently, 63.09% of Maplebear's stock is held by institutional investors, with the company displaying a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts.

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $56.00 to $66.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's target price points to a potential upside of 29.24% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CART. Macquarie restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Maplebear in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Benchmark upgraded shares of Maplebear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Maplebear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Maplebear from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Maplebear from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Maplebear presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.33.

Maplebear Stock Performance

Shares of Maplebear stock traded down $0.70 on Friday, reaching $51.07. 2,581,659 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,243,086. The firm's 50 day moving average is $46.81 and its 200-day moving average is $44.72. The firm has a market cap of $13.41 billion, a PE ratio of 29.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.21. Maplebear has a one year low of $31.51 and a one year high of $53.50.

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. Maplebear had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 15.69%. The business had revenue of $914.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $896.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Maplebear will post 1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Maplebear

In other Maplebear news, Director Levien Meredith A. Kopit sold 4,225 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.45, for a total value of $200,476.25. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,829 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $988,336.05. This trade represents a 16.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Grosvenor L.P. Gcm sold 4,864,272 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.75, for a total transaction of $232,268,988.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,975,327 shares of company stock valued at $237,736,848. Corporate insiders own 26.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Maplebear

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CART. Proathlete Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Maplebear in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Maplebear by 277.9% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 975 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Maplebear by 914.1% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,004 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Maplebear during the first quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Maplebear during the first quarter worth about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.09% of the company's stock.

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.