Wall Street Zen Upgrades CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) to Buy

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

CARG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of CarGurus in a research report on Friday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of CarGurus from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of CarGurus from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of CarGurus to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of CarGurus from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.75.

CarGurus Stock Performance

Shares of CarGurus stock opened at $36.85 on Friday. CarGurus has a 1 year low of $26.39 and a 1 year high of $41.22. The company has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.88.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $250.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.85 million. CarGurus had a return on equity of 62.88% and a net margin of 18.06%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. CarGurus has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.630-0.690 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that CarGurus will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other CarGurus news, insider Jennifer Ladd Hanson sold 2,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.56, for a total transaction of $86,365.44. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 92,894 shares in the company, valued at $3,210,416.64. This trade represents a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Matthew Todd Quinn sold 3,824 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.03, for a total value of $133,954.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 233,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,167,104.38. This represents a 1.61% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 60,015 shares of company stock valued at $2,112,102. Corporate insiders own 18.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CarGurus

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CARG. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of CarGurus in the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in shares of CarGurus during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in CarGurus during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CarGurus by 491.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362 shares during the period. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CarGurus by 321.2% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 2,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622 shares during the last quarter. 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.