CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) Stock Rating Upgraded by Barclays

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Barclays to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on CARG. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on CarGurus from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings cut CarGurus from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on CarGurus from $37.50 to $33.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on CarGurus from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, BTIG Research cut their price objective on CarGurus from $44.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.79.

CarGurus Trading Up 5.0%

CARG opened at $30.35 on Thursday. CarGurus has a 1-year low of $26.39 and a 1-year high of $39.42. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.07.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $243.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.10 million. CarGurus had a net margin of 15.57% and a return on equity of 54.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. CarGurus has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.570-0.640 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that CarGurus will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Dafna Sarnoff sold 5,445 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total value of $179,902.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 134,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,439,551.76. This represents a 3.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jennifer Ladd Hanson sold 2,499 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.61, for a total value of $88,989.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 98,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,496,581.51. The trade was a 2.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 12,852 shares of company stock worth $431,053 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 16.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CarGurus

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CARG. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in CarGurus by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 586,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,965,000 after purchasing an additional 123,364 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in CarGurus by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 229,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,805,000 after purchasing an additional 17,139 shares during the period. Smith Group Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in CarGurus by 68.6% during the 1st quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 16,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 6,906 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CarGurus by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of CarGurus by 27.0% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 100,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,432,000 after buying an additional 21,401 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

CarGurus Company Profile

CarGurus, Inc operates an online automotive marketplace designed to connect buyers and sellers of new and used vehicles. Through its proprietary search engine and data-driven pricing tools, the platform enables consumers to compare listings, assess fair market values and locate local dealers offering competitive deals. CarGurus also provides detailed vehicle history reports, dealer reviews and financing options to streamline the car-shopping process for both private parties and franchised dealerships.

The company’s core product offerings include Instant Market Value (IMV), which leverages pricing algorithms to help buyers identify over- or under-priced vehicles, as well as dealer subscription services that grant automotive retailers access to lead generation tools, targeted advertising and dynamic pricing insights.