Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Position in Cars.com Inc. $CARS

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) by 3.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,546,708 shares of the company’s stock after selling 251,818 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.65% of Cars.com worth $80,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Cars.com by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 1,279 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Cars.com by 436.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Cars.com in the second quarter valued at approximately $115,000. Finally, AXA S.A. purchased a new stake in Cars.com in the second quarter valued at approximately $126,000. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CARS shares. BTIG Research cut their price target on shares of Cars.com from $17.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $13.50 target price on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 price target (down from $16.00) on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Cars.com from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cars.com presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.08.

Cars.com Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Cars.com stock opened at $8.37 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Cars.com Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.73 and a twelve month high of $13.97. The stock has a market cap of $490.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.16 and a beta of 1.50.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.12). Cars.com had a net margin of 2.77% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The company had revenue of $183.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.44 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cars.com news, CFO Sonia Jain sold 11,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.45, for a total value of $153,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 243,642 shares in the company, valued at $3,276,984.90. This represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.39% of the company’s stock.

Cars.com Company Profile

Cars.com operates as a leading online automotive marketplace in the United States, connecting car shoppers with new and used vehicle listings from dealerships and private sellers. The platform enables consumers to research makes and models, compare prices, read expert and user reviews, and access tools such as TrueCost to estimate ownership expenses over time. Through its website and mobile applications, Cars.com aims to simplify the car-buying process by aggregating detailed vehicle data, payment calculators, and dealership ratings into a single user-friendly experience.

On the dealer side, Cars.com provides a suite of marketing and lead-generation services designed to help automotive retailers reach potential buyers and manage their online presence.