Russell Investments Group Ltd. Trims Stock Position in Cars.com Inc. $CARS

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its stake in Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) by 29.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 274,636 shares of the company’s stock after selling 114,826 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.43% of Cars.com worth $3,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CARS. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in Cars.com by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 39,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 8,237 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Cars.com in the fourth quarter valued at $226,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Cars.com by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 114,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,990,000 after purchasing an additional 6,671 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,172,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,984,000 after buying an additional 55,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 40,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $701,000 after buying an additional 1,976 shares during the last quarter. 89.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CARS shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cars.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a report on Thursday. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 target price (up from $21.00) on shares of Cars.com in a report on Friday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Cars.com from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Cars.com from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.30.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Matthew B. Crawford sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.77, for a total transaction of $176,550.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 98,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,158,885.97. The trade was a 13.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cars.com Trading Up 6.4%

Shares of Cars.com stock opened at $13.2590 on Monday. Cars.com Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.56 and a 52-week high of $20.47. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.16. The firm has a market cap of $814.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39 and a beta of 1.76.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.04). Cars.com had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 5.71%.The firm had revenue of $178.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Cars.com Company Profile

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.