Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) shares gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $177.16, but opened at $187.97. Carvana shares last traded at $190.18, with a volume of 1,915,124 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Carvana from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Carvana from $230.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America upped their target price on Carvana from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Carvana from $160.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Carvana from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Carvana presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.65.

Carvana Trading Up 3.9 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $236.67 and a 200-day moving average of $181.43. 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 stock has a market cap of $38.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18,431.43 and a beta of 3.38.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Carvana news, COO Benjamin E. Huston sold 3,043 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $730,320.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 218,686 shares in the company, valued at $52,484,640. This represents a 1.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Mark W. Jenkins sold 208,495 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.43, for a total value of $46,792,532.85. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 90,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,362,982.76. This trade represents a 69.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,151,908 shares of company stock worth $237,894,285 in the last quarter. 17.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carvana

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in Carvana by 90.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,361,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,152,311,000 after buying an additional 5,882,656 shares during the last quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Carvana during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $162,953,000. Sylebra Capital LLC purchased a new position in Carvana during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $67,686,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 503,824 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Senator Investment Group LP acquired a new stake in Carvana during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $63,767,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.71% of the company’s stock.

About Carvana

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.