Maplebear Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:CART)

Maplebear Inc. (NASDAQ:CART) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 8,267 put options on the company. This is an increase of 144% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,393 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CART has been the subject of several research reports. Argus upgraded shares of Maplebear to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Maplebear from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Maplebear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Maplebear in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Maplebear in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.09.

Insider Transactions at Maplebear

In other Maplebear news, Director Ravi Gupta sold 181,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.51, for a total transaction of $7,513,310.00. Following the sale, the director owned 741,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,780,619.73. The trade was a 19.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Lisa Blackwood-Kapral sold 9,390 shares of Maplebear stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.25, for a total value of $377,947.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 58,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,373,582.75. This trade represents a 13.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 24.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Maplebear

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Maplebear by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,461,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,664,000 after acquiring an additional 54,872 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Maplebear by 31.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,981,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,618,000 after buying an additional 1,189,287 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Maplebear in the second quarter valued at about $169,782,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Maplebear by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,526,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,640,000 after buying an additional 54,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Maplebear by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,287,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,892,000 after acquiring an additional 101,278 shares during the last quarter. 63.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Maplebear Price Performance

CART stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $47.70. 2,515,029 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,622,062. The company has a market cap of $11.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $41.98 and its 200 day moving average is $40.42. Maplebear has a 12-month low of $32.73 and a 12-month high of $53.50.

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.01). Maplebear had a net margin of 12.50% and a return on equity of 18.67%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Maplebear will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Maplebear Company Profile

Maplebear, Inc, doing business as Instacart, operates a leading online grocery and essentials marketplace that connects consumers, retail partners and personal shoppers through its digital platform. The company enables customers to order groceries, household items and specialty products for same-day or scheduled delivery, as well as in-store pickup. By integrating its technology with retailers’ existing inventory and point-of-sale systems, Maplebear streamlines the shopping experience and provides real-time availability and pricing.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in San Francisco, Maplebear has grown from a regional startup to a publicly traded company listed on NASDAQ under the ticker CART.