Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $280.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $260.00.

CVNA has been the topic of several other reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Carvana from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Carvana from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Carvana from $277.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Carvana in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Carvana from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Carvana has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $263.88.

Carvana Trading Up 3.6 %

Carvana stock opened at $221.27 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $47.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 140.94 and a beta of 3.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $228.48 and a 200-day moving average of $216.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 3.64 and a quick ratio of 2.12. Carvana has a one year low of $67.61 and a one year high of $292.84.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.32 billion. Carvana had a return on equity of 36.59% and a net margin of 1.54%. On average, equities analysts expect that Carvana will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Carvana

In other Carvana news, CFO Mark W. Jenkins sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.12, for a total value of $2,501,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 219,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,016,895.44. This trade represents a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Benjamin E. Huston sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.49, for a total transaction of $8,924,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 196,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,033,660.22. This trade represents a 20.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 119,784 shares of company stock worth $27,524,344. Company insiders own 17.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Carvana by 112.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Carvana in the third quarter valued at about $217,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Carvana in the third quarter valued at about $244,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Carvana by 97.5% in the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Carvana by 17.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 239,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,634,000 after acquiring an additional 35,922 shares in the last quarter. 56.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.