VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Buys 14,100 Shares of Maplebear Inc. $CART

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its position in shares of Maplebear Inc. (NASDAQ:CART) by 16.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,550 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,100 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Maplebear were worth $4,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Maplebear in the 2nd quarter worth about $9,006,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings 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 worth $58,516,000 after purchasing an additional 221,036 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Maplebear during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,117,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Maplebear during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,210,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Maplebear in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,239,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.09% of the company’s stock.

Maplebear Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CART opened at $56.45 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $49.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.31. Maplebear Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.73 and a 52-week high of $62.00.

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Maplebear had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 11.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Maplebear Inc. will post 2.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Maplebear

In related news, CAO Lisa Blackwood-Kapral sold 3,016 shares of Maplebear stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.58, for a total transaction of $149,533.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 34,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,720,376.42. The trade was a 8.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.61, for a total transaction of $7,591,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 591,523 shares in the company, valued at $29,936,979.03. This trade represents a 20.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 309,928 shares of company stock worth $16,121,073. 24.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Maplebear

Here are the key news stories impacting Maplebear this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Seven firms lowered their ratings on Maplebear to neutral-equivalent recommendations: Jefferies, Wedbush, Cantor Fitzgerald, Needham, Citizens JMP and Sanford C. Bernstein moved to “Hold,” while Barclays cut the stock to “Equal Weight.” Bernstein separately downgraded CART from “Outperform” to “Market Perform.” The concentrated shift indicates analysts are becoming more cautious about valuation and future upside. Jefferies downgrade Wedbush downgrade Cantor Fitzgerald downgrade Barclays downgrade Needham downgrade Citizens JMP downgrade Bernstein downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: SBS Law announced an opportunity for CART investors to participate in a fraud investigation involving Maplebear. The notice may weigh on sentiment and raise concerns about potential legal exposure, although it is an investigation announcement—not a finding that the company committed wrongdoing. SBS Law fraud investigation notice
• Neutral Sentiment: CART recently traded near the upper end of its 52-week range and above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. With a market capitalization of approximately $13.1 billion and a P/E ratio near 29, the stock’s strong performance may have increased sensitivity to rating downgrades.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Maplebear from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $63.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Maplebear from a “market outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Maplebear from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Maplebear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Maplebear from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.33.

Maplebear Company Profile

Maplebear Inc, doing business as Instacart, operates a technology-enabled grocery marketplace that connects consumers with retailers and personal shoppers. Through its website and mobile applications, customers can order groceries and other household products for delivery or pickup from participating supermarkets, specialty food stores, convenience retailers and other merchants.

The company also provides retailers with e-commerce, fulfillment and advertising solutions. Its platform supports online storefronts, order management, delivery logistics, customer engagement and data-driven marketing, allowing retail partners to offer digital shopping services and reach consumers through Instacart’s marketplace.

Founded in 2012, Maplebear serves customers across the United States and Canada.