Thomas Alex Vetter Purchases 27,870 Shares of Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Stock

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) CEO Thomas Alex Vetter bought 27,870 shares of Cars.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $10.75 per share, for a total transaction of $299,602.50. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 844,897 shares in the company, valued at $9,082,642.75. The trade was a 3.41% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Cars.com Stock Up 5.2%

Shares of NYSE:CARS opened at $11.36 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $11.43 and its 200 day moving average is $15.36. The company has a market cap of $721.68 million, a PE ratio of 19.59 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. Cars.com Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.56 and a 1 year high of $21.24.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $179.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $179.82 million. Cars.com had a return on equity of 9.99% and a net margin of 5.46%. Cars.com’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Cars.com

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cars.com by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,121,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,407,000 after purchasing an additional 115,083 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in Cars.com by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,178,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,021,000 after buying an additional 655,518 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Cars.com by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,172,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,984,000 after buying an additional 55,143 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Cars.com by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,559,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,350,000 after buying an additional 65,210 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Cars.com by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 923,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,406,000 after acquiring an additional 88,463 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Cars.com from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Cars.com from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Cars.com from $21.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.30.

About Cars.com

Cars.com Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a digital automotive marketplace that connects local car dealers to consumers in the United States. The company offers a suite of digital solutions that creates connections between individuals researching cars or looking to purchase a car with car dealerships and automotive original equipment manufacturers.