Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) Shares Gap Down Following Insider Selling

Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $199.56, but opened at $188.20. Carvana shares last traded at $190.01, with a volume of 1,823,458 shares traded.

Specifically, CFO Mark W. Jenkins sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.75, for a total transaction of $2,007,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 189,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,961,222.75. This trade represents a 5.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CVNA shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Carvana from $160.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Carvana in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Carvana from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Carvana from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Carvana from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Carvana presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.18.

Carvana Stock Down 11.2 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $236.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.99, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 3.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17,733.73 and a beta of 3.32.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 31.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Carvana Co. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Carvana

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Carvana in the fourth quarter worth approximately $609,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Carvana in the 4th quarter worth $573,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Carvana by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Carvana during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Carvana by 1,454.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 538,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,754,000 after acquiring an additional 503,824 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.71% of the company’s stock.

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.