Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) Shares Sold by Wexford Capital LP

Wexford Capital LP cut its stake in Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 23,313 shares during the period. Wexford Capital LP’s holdings in Avis Budget Group were worth $440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wolverine Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 93.4% during the third quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 16,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 8,100 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Avis Budget Group during the 2nd quarter worth $19,978,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Avis Budget Group in the second quarter valued at $1,400,000. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 123.8% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 22,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,992,000 after acquiring an additional 12,580 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 266.9% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 63,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,595,000 after acquiring an additional 45,900 shares during the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Avis Budget Group from $145.00 to $143.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Avis Budget Group from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Avis Budget Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Northcoast Research lowered shares of Avis Budget Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.13.

Avis Budget Group Stock Performance

Avis Budget Group stock opened at $98.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.02 and a beta of 2.20. Avis Budget Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.73 and a 1 year high of $204.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $92.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.11.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The business services provider reported $6.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.55 by ($1.90). The company had revenue of $3.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Avis Budget Group had a negative return on equity of 101.41% and a net margin of 3.34%. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $16.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Avis Budget Group, Inc. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Avis Budget Group

Avis Budget Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides car and truck rentals, car sharing, and ancillary products and services to businesses and consumers in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia, and Australasia. It operates the Avis brand, that offers vehicle rental and other mobility solutions to the premium commercial and leisure segments of the travel industry; and the Zipcar brand, a car sharing network, as well as the Budget brand, a supplier of vehicle rental and other mobility solutions focused primarily on more value-conscious customers comprising Budget car rental, and Budget Truck, a local, and one-way truck and cargo van rental businesses with a fleet of approximately 19,000 vehicles, which are rented through a network of dealer-operated and company-operated locations that serve the light commercial and consumer sectors in the continental United States.