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

Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 316,284 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing 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 have also made changes to their positions in CARG. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in CarGurus by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 42,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,553,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CarGurus by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 82.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of CarGurus by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in CarGurus by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CarGurus

In other news, COO Samuel Zales sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.78, for a total transaction of $307,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,004,969.50. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 1,824 shares of CarGurus stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.73, for a total transaction of $48,755.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 31,824 shares of company stock valued at $907,856 in the last ninety days. 16.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CarGurus Price Performance

Shares of CARG opened at $32.46 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $28.89 and its 200-day moving average is $33.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 180.34, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.45. CarGurus, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.65 and a fifty-two week high of $41.33.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.04. CarGurus had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 27.14%. The business had revenue of $225.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $226.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. CarGurus’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that CarGurus, Inc. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on CARG shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of CarGurus in a research report on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of CarGurus from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of 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 cut their price target on shares of CarGurus from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of CarGurus from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.95.

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.