Traders Purchase Large Volume of Carvana Put Options (NYSE:CVNA)

Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 111,176 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 49% compared to the typical volume of 74,809 put options.

Carvana Stock Up 11.9 %

CVNA stock traded up $22.66 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $213.61. 5,081,439 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,862,131. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 3.64. Carvana has a 1-year low of $67.61 and a 1-year high of $292.84. The company has a market cap of $45.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 136.06 and a beta of 3.56. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $227.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.45.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. Carvana had a net margin of 1.54% and a return on equity of 36.59%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Carvana will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 196,278 shares in the company, valued at $35,033,660.22. This trade represents a 20.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Mark W. Jenkins sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.75, for a total transaction of $2,007,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 189,097 shares in the company, valued at $37,961,222.75. This represents a 5.02 % 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 in the last three months. Insiders own 17.12% of the company's stock.

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Institutional Trading of Carvana

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Carvana by 90.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,361,790 shares of the company's stock worth $2,152,311,000 after buying an additional 5,882,656 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Carvana by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,425,367 shares of the company's stock worth $2,323,463,000 after buying an additional 610,234 shares in the last quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP raised its stake in shares of Carvana by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 3,987,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $810,827,000 after purchasing an additional 57,215 shares in the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in Carvana by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 2,168,232 shares of the company's stock worth $440,932,000 after buying an additional 129,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Carvana by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,878,796 shares of the company's stock valued at $381,592,000 after purchasing an additional 75,250 shares during the last quarter. 56.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on CVNA. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $340.00 price target on shares of Carvana in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Carvana in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Carvana from $270.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Carvana from $277.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Carvana currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $262.71.

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.