CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.06 EPS

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.06), Zacks reports. CarGurus had a negative net margin of 5.47% and a positive return on equity of 13.96%.

CarGurus Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CARG traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $37.59. The stock had a trading volume of 1,466,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 758,822. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of -81.72, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.59. CarGurus has a 52 week low of $21.18 and a 52 week high of $41.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CARG shares. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of CarGurus from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of CarGurus from $30.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on CarGurus from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on CarGurus from $26.50 to $38.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded CarGurus from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.41.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Samuel Zales sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total transaction of $767,200.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 400,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,344,959. This represents a 4.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 2,203 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total transaction of $83,978.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,421,271.96. The trade was a 1.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,388 shares of company stock worth $2,204,338. 17.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.