Franklin Resources Inc. Has $40.94 Million Stock Holdings in Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) by 306.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 201,320 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 151,806 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.10% of Carvana worth $40,940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CVNA. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Carvana by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 462,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,148,000 after purchasing an additional 39,089 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Carvana by 135.5% during the 4th quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after buying an additional 2,994 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC grew its holdings in shares of Carvana by 115.9% in the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,738 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Carvana by 37.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 478,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,305,000 after acquiring an additional 130,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Carvana by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 382,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,807,000 after buying an additional 95,497 shares in the last quarter. 56.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVNA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Carvana from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Bank of America dropped their price target on Carvana from $270.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Carvana from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Carvana from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Carvana in a report on Monday, December 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Carvana has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $258.59.

Carvana Stock Down 10.6 %

Shares of NYSE CVNA opened at $162.54 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $223.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $218.92. Carvana Co. has a 12 month low of $67.61 and a 12 month high of $292.84. The company has a current ratio of 3.64, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82. The company has a market cap of $34.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.53 and a beta of 3.61.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. Carvana had a return on equity of 36.59% and a net margin of 1.54%. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Carvana Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paul W. Breaux sold 1,362 shares of Carvana stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.08, for a total value of $367,848.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 153,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,387,059.20. The trade was a 0.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 shares were sold at an average price of $178.49, for a total value of $8,924,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 196,278 shares in the company, valued at $35,033,660.22. The trade was a 20.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 280,810 shares of company stock valued at $61,698,820 over the last quarter. 17.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.