Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $176.09, but opened at $180.47. Carvana shares last traded at $189.28, with a volume of 1,083,337 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CVNA shares. Piper Sandler upgraded Carvana from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Carvana from $270.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Wedbush set a $250.00 target price on shares of Carvana and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Carvana from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Carvana in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $262.71.

Carvana Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 3.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82. The firm has a market cap of $44.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 132.29 and a beta of 3.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $215.45.

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Carvana (NYSE:CVNA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.32 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Carvana Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Carvana news, CFO Mark W. Jenkins sold 28,422 shares of Carvana stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.85, for a total transaction of $8,209,694.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 219,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,536,023.70. The trade was a 11.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Benjamin E. Huston sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was 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 directly owns 196,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,033,660.22. This represents a 20.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders own 17.12% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Carvana in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $494,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Carvana by 363.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 250 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Carvana in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,496,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Carvana by 112.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,215 shares of the company's stock valued at $734,000 after acquiring an additional 2,234 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Carvana during the 3rd quarter valued at about $217,000. 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.