Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) Trading 10.6% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR)’s share price traded up 10.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $60.82 and last traded at $61.35. 965,296 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 20% from the average session volume of 805,479 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Avis Budget Group from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Northcoast Research lowered Avis Budget Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.75.

Avis Budget Group Stock Up 11.6 %

The company has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of -1.20 and a beta of 2.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.72.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.27. Avis Budget Group had a negative return on equity of 14.74% and a negative net margin of 15.45%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Avis Budget Group, Inc. will post 8.91 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avis Budget Group news, Director Lynn Krominga sold 1,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $133,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $185,250. This trade represents a 41.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 52.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avis Budget Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,354,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $293,825,000 after purchasing an additional 129,805 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 672,227 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,880,000 after purchasing an additional 16,221 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 0.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 592,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,883,000 after purchasing an additional 2,561 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 93.2% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 490,473 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,537,000 after purchasing an additional 236,576 shares during the period. Finally, JAT Capital Mgmt LP lifted its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 24.5% during the third quarter. JAT Capital Mgmt LP now owns 398,170 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,876,000 after purchasing an additional 78,383 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

About Avis Budget Group

Avis Budget Group, Inc engages in the provision of vehicle sharing and rental services. It operates through the following segments: Americas, International, and Corporate and Other. The Americas segment includes the vehicle rental and car sharing operations in North America, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.