Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 23,714 Shares of Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas decreased its holdings in shares of Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS - Free Report) by 21.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,714 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned 0.14% of Cars.com worth $969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CARS. Boston Partners raised its stake in Cars.com by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,178,426 shares of the company's stock worth $55,021,000 after acquiring an additional 655,518 shares in the last quarter. SG Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Cars.com during the fourth quarter worth about $10,908,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Cars.com by 609.2% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 442,889 shares of the company's stock worth $7,675,000 after acquiring an additional 380,439 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Cars.com during the first quarter worth about $3,273,000. Finally, Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cars.com in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,460,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Cars.com from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $14.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Cars.com from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Cars.com has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Thomas Alex Vetter bought 27,870 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.75 per share, with a total value of $299,602.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 844,897 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,082,642.75. This trade represents a 3.41% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.39% of the company's stock.

Cars.com Trading Up 5.3%

NYSE:CARS traded up $0.66 on Thursday, reaching $12.99. 1,057,773 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 691,413. The firm has a market capitalization of $825.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10 and a beta of 1.86. The company's 50 day moving average is $11.16 and its 200-day moving average is $13.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Cars.com Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.56 and a 1-year high of $21.24.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $179.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.82 million. Cars.com had a net margin of 6.32% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.