Insider Selling: Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) CFO Sells 11,400 Shares of Stock

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) CFO Sonia Jain sold 11,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.45, for a total transaction of $153,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 243,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,276,984.90. This trade represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Cars.com Price Performance

Shares of CARS stock traded down $0.62 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $12.88. 2,962,568 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 824,031. Cars.com Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.56 and a fifty-two week high of $19.00. The firm has a market cap of $770.15 million, a P/E ratio of 27.99 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $11.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.02.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $181.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.37 million. Cars.com had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 4.16%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hill Path Capital LP grew its position in shares of Cars.com by 23.2% in the third quarter. Hill Path Capital LP now owns 2,481,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,318,000 after purchasing an additional 468,000 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cars.com during the 2nd quarter worth $16,456,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 13.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,203,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,708,000 after purchasing an additional 138,229 shares during the last quarter. Par Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cars.com in the second quarter valued at $14,220,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Cars.com by 23.1% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,057,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,920,000 after purchasing an additional 198,077 shares during the last quarter. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CARS has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Cars.com in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Cars.com in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Cars.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cars.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.70.

About Cars.com

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.