Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $65.00 to $70.00. The stock had previously closed at $69.16, but opened at $71.75. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Carvana shares last traded at $70.50, with a volume of 823,364 shares changing hands.

Several other research analysts have also commented on CVNA. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Carvana in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James raised Carvana from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Carvana from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Carvana from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Carvana from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, March 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Carvana presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.53.

Insider Transactions at Carvana

In other news, insider Paul W. Breaux sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.00, for a total value of $1,035,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 150,126 shares in the company, valued at $10,358,694. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Paul W. Breaux sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.00, for a total value of $1,035,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 150,126 shares in the company, valued at $10,358,694. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Benjamin E. Huston sold 9,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.92, for a total transaction of $770,824.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 178,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,833,144.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 187,883 shares of company stock worth $15,505,178. Insiders own 17.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Carvana

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Carvana by 13.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,756,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $619,478,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784,009 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Carvana by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,023,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,648,000 after acquiring an additional 655,603 shares during the period. Spruce House Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Carvana by 52.7% in the fourth quarter. Spruce House Investment Management LLC now owns 10,000,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,400,000 after acquiring an additional 3,450,000 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Carvana by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,346,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,050,000 after acquiring an additional 165,379 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in Carvana by 0.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,696,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $197,160,000 after acquiring an additional 24,560 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.71% of the company’s stock.

Carvana Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $74.47 and a 200 day moving average of $51.99. The company has a market cap of $14.66 billion, a PE ratio of 134.84 and a beta of 3.32.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported ($1.00) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.95) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.97) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Carvana Co. will post -3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carvana Company Profile

Carvana Co, together with its subsidiaries, operates an e-commerce platform for buying and selling used cars in the United States. Its platform allows customers to research and identify a vehicle; inspect it using company's 360-degree vehicle imaging technology; obtain financing and warranty coverage; purchase the vehicle; and schedule delivery or pick-up from their desktop or mobile devices.