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

Maplebear Inc. (NASDAQ:CART) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 6,848 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 19% compared to the average daily volume of 5,756 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on CART. BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Maplebear in a research report on Tuesday. JMP Securities increased their price target on Maplebear from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Maplebear from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Maplebear from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Maplebear from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.25.

Maplebear Stock Performance

CART stock traded down $2.61 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $35.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,499,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,474,888. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.44, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22. Maplebear has a 1 year low of $34.87 and a 1 year high of $53.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.39.

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $914.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $896.55 million. Maplebear had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 13.76%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Maplebear will post 1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Fidji Simo sold 66,560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $3,328,665.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,965,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $98,291,904.45. This represents a 3.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Morgan Fong sold 4,680 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.16, for a total value of $230,068.80. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 452,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,220,320. This represents a 1.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,986,367 shares of company stock worth $238,211,261. 26.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Maplebear

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Maplebear by 4,154.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 372,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,862,000 after buying an additional 363,824 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Maplebear by 18.6% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Maplebear by 7.6% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 6,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Maplebear by 100.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Maplebear by 542.8% in the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 101,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,058,000 after purchasing an additional 85,896 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.09% of the company’s stock.

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.