Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Maplebear Inc. (NASDAQ:CART)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Argus raised their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $58.00. Argus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Maplebear traded as high as $52.68 and last traded at $52.37, with a volume of 249095 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.53.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on CART. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Maplebear from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Maplebear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Wedbush began coverage on shares of Maplebear in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $59.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Maplebear from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Maplebear from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $56.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.14.

Insider Transactions at Maplebear

In related news, insider Morgan Fong sold 18,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.96, for a total transaction of $918,764.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 529,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,474,353.56. This trade represents a 3.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Ravi Gupta sold 150,000 shares of Maplebear stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.61, for a total value of $7,591,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 591,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,936,979.03. This represents a 20.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 24.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Maplebear

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CART. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Maplebear in the second quarter worth about $9,006,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Maplebear by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,562,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,516,000 after acquiring an additional 221,036 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Maplebear by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,526,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,640,000 after purchasing an additional 54,010 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Maplebear in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,256,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Maplebear in the 1st quarter worth about $1,210,000. 63.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Maplebear Trading Up 0.5%

The company has a market cap of $11.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a fifty day moving average of $47.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.60.

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Maplebear had a net margin of 11.97% and a return on equity of 20.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Maplebear Inc. will post 2.33 EPS 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.