Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $195.83, but opened at $204.10. Carvana shares last traded at $214.09, with a volume of 455,364 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVNA has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Carvana from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Carvana from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Carvana from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Carvana from $365.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Carvana in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Carvana currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.59.

Carvana Stock Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $46.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.31 and a beta of 3.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $209.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $221.92.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 1.54% and a return on equity of 36.59%. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Carvana Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Carvana

In other Carvana news, CFO Mark W. Jenkins sold 10,000 shares of Carvana stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.12, for a total value of $2,501,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 219,962 shares in the company, valued at $55,016,895.44. The trade was a 4.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Paul W. Breaux sold 1,362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.08, for a total transaction of $367,848.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 153,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,387,059.20. This trade represents a 0.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 330,810 shares of company stock valued at $69,243,820. 17.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carvana

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Carvana during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Carvana by 109.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Carvana in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Carvana in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Carvana during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. 56.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.