Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) Upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) was upgraded by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $280.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $260.00. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 31.08% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on CVNA. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Carvana from $270.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Carvana from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Carvana in a report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Carvana from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Carvana in a research note 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $263.88.

Carvana Stock Up 11.9 %

CVNA opened at $213.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $45.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 136.06 and a beta of 3.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 3.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $227.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.96. Carvana has a twelve month low of $67.61 and a twelve month high of $292.84.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.32 billion. Research analysts forecast that Carvana will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Carvana

In other news, COO Benjamin E. Huston sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 196,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,033,660.22. This represents a 20.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Paul W. Breaux sold 1,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 153,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,387,059.20. This trade represents a 0.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 119,784 shares of company stock valued at $27,524,344 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 17.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CVNA. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Carvana by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Carvana by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Carvana by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its position in Carvana by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 3,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $752,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Carvana by 109.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 56.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.