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

Shares of Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) 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 traded.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Carvana from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Carvana in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Carvana from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Carvana from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Carvana from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Carvana

In other Carvana news, CFO Mark W. Jenkins sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.76, for a total value of $4,771,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 178,156 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,456,814.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Carvana news, insider Paul W. Breaux sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 150,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,358,694. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Mark W. Jenkins sold 55,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.76, for a total transaction of $4,771,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 178,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,456,814.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 187,883 shares of company stock worth $15,505,178. Insiders own 17.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carvana

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Carvana by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 692 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Carvana by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 13,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Carvana by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Carvana by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Carvana by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.71% of the company’s stock.

Carvana Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $74.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.12. The company has a market cap of $14.36 billion, a PE ratio of 131.67 and a beta of 3.32.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported ($1.00) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.95) by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.97) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Carvana Co. will post -3.4 EPS for the current 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.