Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 471,697 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,682 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.45% of CarGurus worth $17,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CARG. Creative Planning raised its holdings in CarGurus by 152.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,000 after acquiring an additional 15,328 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in CarGurus by 81.3% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 959 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in CarGurus by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in CarGurus by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 42,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of CarGurus by 8.2% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 49,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,497,000 after buying an additional 3,790 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CarGurus

In related news, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 4,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.78, for a total value of $163,872.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 120,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,295,424.78. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Dafna Sarnoff sold 10,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.78, for a total value of $378,194.60. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 95,261 shares in the company, valued at $3,408,438.58. The trade was a 9.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,388 shares of company stock valued at $2,204,338 in the last quarter. 17.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on CARG. Citigroup raised shares of CarGurus from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on CarGurus from $30.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. DA Davidson raised their price target on CarGurus from $26.50 to $38.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on CarGurus from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, B. Riley raised their target price on shares of CarGurus from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CarGurus currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.41.

CarGurus Trading Up 0.5 %

CarGurus stock opened at $31.08 on Wednesday. CarGurus, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.18 and a 12-month high of $41.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $37.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 172.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.59.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.06). CarGurus had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 27.14%. The business had revenue of $228.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.72 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CarGurus, Inc. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.