California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 54,830 Shares of Carvana Co. $CVNA

Key Points

• CalPERS cut its Carvana stake by 23% in the first quarter, selling 54,830 shares and leaving it with 183,866 shares valued at about $57.8 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on Carvana, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.92; several firms recently reiterated or raised targets around the $97 to $103 range.
• Carvana posted a strong quarterly beat, reporting $1.69 EPS versus $0.32 expected and revenue of $6.43 billion versus $6.12 billion expected, while insiders have also been active sellers in recent months.

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA - Free Report) by 23.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 183,866 shares of the company's stock after selling 54,830 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.08% of Carvana worth $57,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Carvana by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,726,838 shares of the company's stock worth $7,481,081,000 after acquiring an additional 1,407,762 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Carvana by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,783,101 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,082,804,000 after purchasing an additional 3,328,115 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Carvana by 93.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,714,779 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,411,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,764,759 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Carvana by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,700,953 shares of the company's stock worth $2,405,959,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711,144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Carvana by 55.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,880,711 shares of the company's stock worth $1,632,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,382,852 shares during the last quarter. 56.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CVNA shares. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $97.00 target price on shares of Carvana in a report on Friday, June 5th. Argus lowered their price target on Carvana from $500.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Carvana from $86.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Carvana in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on shares of Carvana from $92.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $92.92.

Carvana Stock Performance

Shares of Carvana stock opened at $67.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 2.57. The firm has a market cap of $74.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 3.46. The stock's 50-day moving average is $67.86 and its 200-day moving average is $72.29. Carvana Co. has a one year low of $54.46 and a one year high of $97.38.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $1.37. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.12 billion. Carvana had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 41.46%. Equities analysts predict that Carvana Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Carvana

In other Carvana news, COO Benjamin E. Huston sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.99, for a total value of $3,849,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 529,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,791,131.52. This represents a 8.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Thomas Taira sold 5,597 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.15, for a total transaction of $375,838.55. Following the transaction, the insider owned 315,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,157,286.25. The trade was a 1.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 396,962 shares of company stock worth $28,525,088 in the last three months. 15.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Carvana Company Profile

Carvana Co is an online-only retailer of used vehicles that operates a consumer-facing e-commerce platform for buying and selling cars. The company markets and sells inspected, reconditioned pre-owned vehicles through its website, where shoppers can browse inventory, view detailed 360-degree photos and vehicle history reports, finance purchases, and arrange delivery or pickup. Carvana's model is built around a digital end-to-end car buying experience that aims to simplify vehicle transactions compared with traditional dealerships.

Its products and services include direct retail sales of used cars, trade-in and purchase offers for consumer vehicles, vehicle financing and related protection products, and a seven-day return policy that allows customers to test a vehicle in everyday use.

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