Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) Short Interest Update

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,810,000 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the January 31st total of 2,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 633,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days. Approximately 8.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Avis Budget Group Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of CAR stock opened at $73.80 on Friday. Avis Budget Group has a 12 month low of $65.73 and a 12 month high of $132.25. The stock has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.42 and a beta of 2.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.69.

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

Insider Transactions at Avis Budget Group

In other news, Director Lynn Krominga sold 1,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $133,475.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $185,250. This represents a 41.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 52.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Avis Budget Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC increased its holdings in 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 valued at $293,825,000 after buying an additional 129,805 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 2.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 0.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 93.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, JAT Capital Mgmt LP increased its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 24.5% in 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 in the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAR has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Avis Budget Group from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Northcoast Research cut shares of Avis Budget Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Five equities research 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.75.

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.