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

Shares of Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) gapped down prior to trading on Friday following insider selling activity. 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 changing hands.

Specifically, CFO Mark W. Jenkins sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.75, for a total transaction of $2,007,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 189,097 shares in the company, valued at $37,961,222.75. This trade represents a 5.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on CVNA. Morgan Stanley upgraded Carvana from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Carvana from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Carvana from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Carvana from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on Carvana from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Carvana presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.18.

Carvana Stock Performance

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 company has a market cap of $36.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17,733.73 and a beta of 3.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $236.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.94.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. Carvana’s revenue was up 31.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Carvana Co. will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carvana

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Carvana during the third quarter worth about $50,531,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Carvana by 124.9% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 581,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,888,000 after acquiring an additional 323,153 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Carvana by 6.9% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 207,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,197,000 after purchasing an additional 13,400 shares during the period. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its stake in Carvana by 89.2% in the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 53,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,229,000 after purchasing an additional 24,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Colonial River Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Carvana in the third quarter worth $786,000. 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.