Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) Stock

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $44.00 to $45.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 10.46% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Maplebear from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Maplebear to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Maplebear from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Maplebear in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Maplebear from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.92.

Maplebear Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CART opened at $40.74 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.66. Maplebear has a one year low of $29.84 and a one year high of $53.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.34, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.07.

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.16. Maplebear had a net margin of 13.37% and a return on equity of 13.78%. The firm had revenue of $883.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $889.98 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Maplebear will post 1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Maplebear news, CAO Alan Ramsay sold 2,314 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.28, for a total value of $107,091.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 85,421 shares in the company, valued at $3,953,283.88. This represents a 2.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Fidji Simo sold 20,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.74, for a total transaction of $886,855.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,771,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,734,980.82. This trade represents a 1.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,311 shares of company stock worth $1,088,636 in the last quarter. 36.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Maplebear by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Maplebear by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Maplebear by 101.4% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Maplebear by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Maplebear by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. 63.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Maplebear

Maplebear Inc, doing business as Instacart, engages in the provision of online grocery shopping services to households in North America. It sells and delivers grocery products, as well as pickup services through a mobile application and website. It also operates virtual convenience stores; and provides software-as-a-service solutions to retailers.