Insider Selling: Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Insider Sells 22,888 Shares of Stock

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) insider Lisa Gosselin sold 22,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.25, for a total value of $303,266.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 186,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,472,012.75. This trade represents a 10.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Cars.com Trading Down 4.4%

Shares of Cars.com stock traded down $0.60 on Thursday, hitting $12.88. The stock had a trading volume of 319,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 946,744. The stock has a market cap of $670.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12 and a beta of 1.66. Cars.com Inc. has a one year low of $7.40 and a one year high of $14.02. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.62.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $181.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.05 million. Cars.com had a net margin of 5.92% and a return on equity of 19.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Cars.com from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Cars.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday. Zacks Research downgraded Cars.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Cars.com in a report on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. Finally, B. Riley Financial raised their target price on Cars.com from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.07.

Institutional Trading of Cars.com

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pale Fire Capital SE lifted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 498.1% in the first quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 3,956,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,128,000 after buying an additional 3,295,117 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,401,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,620,000 after acquiring an additional 262,443 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 77.9% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 580,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,711,000 after purchasing an additional 253,991 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Cars.com during the second quarter worth $2,748,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board bought a new position in Cars.com during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,392,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

About Cars.com

Cars.com Inc. operates a digital automotive marketplace that connects people shopping for new and used vehicles with dealerships. Its Cars.com platform provides vehicle listings, research tools, reviews and information to help consumers compare cars and find local sellers. The company also offers products and services for automotive dealers, including digital marketing, website development, inventory and customer-management tools, and vehicle appraisal solutions. Its brands include Dealer Inspire, DealerRater and AccuTrade.