Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Stake in CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 532,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,465,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.51% of CarGurus at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 42,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted 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 worth $34,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in CarGurus by 100.0% in the 4th 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 period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in CarGurus by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd raised its stake in CarGurus by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 3,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CarGurus

In related news, COO Samuel Zales sold 9,857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.62, for a total value of $360,963.34. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 434,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,923,145.02. This trade represents a 2.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Matthew Todd Quinn sold 4,678 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.78, for a total transaction of $167,378.84. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 195,795 shares in the company, valued at $7,005,545.10. The trade was a 2.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 51,888 shares of company stock valued at $1,921,588 over the last three months. 17.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CarGurus Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of CarGurus stock opened at $30.78 on Monday. CarGurus, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.18 and a 12-month high of $41.33. The company has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 171.01, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $36.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.20.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CARG. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of CarGurus in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on CarGurus from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on CarGurus from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of CarGurus in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CarGurus currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.55.

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.