Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,102 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.19% of Avis Budget Group worth $12,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 2.3% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 5,759 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 16.2% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 4,098 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 1.4% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 6,226 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,119,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 9.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 190,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,242,000 after buying an additional 17,082 shares during the period. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Avis Budget Group in the third quarter valued at about $391,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Avis Budget Group Price Performance

Shares of CAR opened at $111.91 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $114.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.47. Avis Budget Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $93.53 and a 12 month high of $244.95. The company has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 2.28.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported ($3.21) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($2.65) by ($0.56). The company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. Avis Budget Group had a net margin of 10.05% and a negative return on equity of 480.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.72 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Avis Budget Group, Inc. will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CAR. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $118.00 to $130.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $190.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Avis Budget Group from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Northcoast Research raised shares of Avis Budget Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avis Budget Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.57.

About Avis Budget Group

Avis Budget Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides car and truck rentals, car sharing, and ancillary products and services to businesses and consumers in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia, and Australasia. It operates the Avis brand, that offers vehicle rental and other mobility solutions to the premium commercial and leisure segments of the travel industry; and the Zipcar brand, a car sharing network, as well as the Budget brand, a supplier of vehicle rental and other mobility solutions focused primarily on more value-conscious customers comprising Budget car rental, and Budget Truck, a local, and one-way truck and cargo van rental businesses with a fleet of approximately 19,000 vehicles, which are rented through a network of dealer-operated and company-operated locations that serve the light commercial and consumer sectors in the continental United States.