Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) Trading Up 4% – Should You Buy?

Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) shares traded up 4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $192.98 and last traded at $192.81. 2,131,848 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 3,841,689 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.42.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on CVNA shares. Piper Sandler raised Carvana from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Carvana from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Carvana from $277.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Carvana from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Carvana in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.71.

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’s 50 day moving average is $227.61 and its 200 day moving average is $214.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 123.36 and a beta of 3.56.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last released 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. Carvana had a net margin of 1.54% and a return on equity of 36.59%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. On average, analysts predict that Carvana Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Carvana

In other news, COO Benjamin E. Huston sold 50,000 shares of Carvana stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.49, for a total transaction of $8,924,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark W. Jenkins sold 28,422 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.85, for a total transaction of $8,209,694.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 219,962 shares in the company, valued at $63,536,023.70. The trade was a 11.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 119,784 shares of company stock valued at $27,524,344 over the last three months. 17.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carvana

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Carvana by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Carvana in the third quarter valued at approximately $494,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Carvana by 2.6% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 80,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,083,000 after purchasing an additional 2,054 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Carvana by 6.9% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 207,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,197,000 after purchasing an additional 13,400 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Carvana by 363.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.