Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) Stock Rating Lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) was downgraded by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $165.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $123.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective suggests a potential downside of 19.12% from the company’s previous close.

CAR has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Avis Budget Group from $142.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Avis Budget Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Barclays lowered Avis Budget Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Avis Budget Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Avis Budget Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $128.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $124.00.

Avis Budget Group Trading Down 11.0%

CAR stock opened at $204.00 on Thursday. Avis Budget Group has a 12-month low of $85.96 and a 12-month high of $847.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.40. The firm has a market cap of $7.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.03 and a beta of 1.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avis Budget Group

In other news, Director Lynn Krominga sold 1,950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.54, for a total value of $178,503.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Pentwater Capital Management L purchased 425,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $94.26 per share, with a total value of $40,060,500.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 3,987,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $375,824,046. This represents a 11.93% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 50.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,964,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $380,444,000 after purchasing an additional 804,814 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 38.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,975,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $253,519,000 after purchasing an additional 545,574 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 46.6% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,290,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $207,142,000 after purchasing an additional 409,761 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV grew its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 440.2% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 1,035,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,195,000 after purchasing an additional 843,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 1.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 713,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $120,554,000 after purchasing an additional 7,318 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Avis Budget Group News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Avis Budget Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Legal overhang eased as some investor lawsuits against Avis’ management were dropped, removing a potential multi‑front risk for the company. Investors Drop Suits
• Positive Sentiment: Earlier momentum showed strong retail interest — the stock reached an all‑time high during the squeeze, demonstrating substantial buying power and interest in CAR. Avis Hits New All-Time High
• Neutral Sentiment: Trading experienced repeated LULD halts across sessions, reflecting extreme volatility and triggering execution interruptions for traders (several intraday pauses).
• Negative Sentiment: Short squeeze has largely unraveled, producing a rapid and deep decline from the peak — retail-driven momentum reversed and sellers dominated after the squeeze cooled. Short Squeeze Unravels
• Negative Sentiment: Reports indicate a hedge fund central to the squeeze added to its stake before the rout, raising questions about trading behavior and drawing regulatory/market scrutiny that could weigh on sentiment. Hedge Fund Added Stake
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are pricing in dilution risk after commentary and analyst notes flagged the likelihood of an equity offering to capitalize on the high share price — potential dilution is pressuring buyers. Equity Offering Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan downgraded CAR to underweight and set a lower price target, adding analyst-driven downside pressure amid the volatility. JPMorgan Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Market commentary and technical analysts flagged this as one of Avis’ worst days in decades, reinforcing the narrative of a parabolic rally that ended in a hard reversal. Worst Day in 28 Years

About Avis Budget Group

Avis Budget Group, Inc operates as a leading global provider of vehicle rental and mobility solutions. Through its two core brands, Avis® and Budget®, the company offers a broad range of rental options including daily, weekly and monthly car rentals for leisure and business travelers. In addition to traditional airport and off-airport car rental services, Avis Budget Group delivers innovative mobility platforms such as car-sharing programs and connected fleet solutions designed to meet the evolving needs of corporate, government and individual customers.

The company’s roots trace back to Avis Rent a Car, founded in 1946, and Budget Rent a Car, established in 1958.