Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) Trading 5.5% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Maplebear Inc. (NASDAQ:CART) shares traded up 5.5% during trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $43.00 to $45.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Maplebear traded as high as $37.79 and last traded at $37.6760. 1,184,631 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 5,116,530 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.72.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on CART. Wall Street Zen upgraded Maplebear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Maplebear from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Fox Advisors downgraded Maplebear from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Argus upgraded shares of Maplebear to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Maplebear from $60.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Maplebear news, CAO Lisa Blackwood-Kapral sold 9,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.74, for a total transaction of $363,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,510 shares in the company, valued at $1,840,537.40. This represents a 16.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Morgan Fong sold 126,083 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.09, for a total value of $4,676,418.47. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 386,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,340,588.87. This represents a 24.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 26.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Maplebear

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CART. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Maplebear by 35.7% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Maplebear by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Maplebear by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Maplebear by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 6,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Maplebear by 78.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 884 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. 63.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Maplebear Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.92. The company has a market cap of $9.10 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.98.

About Maplebear

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.