Rafferty Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Carvana Co. $CVNA

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Carvana Co. by 21.1%, selling 1,738 shares, bringing its total ownership to 6,489 shares valued at around $1.36 million.
• Carvana reported earnings of $1.28 per share for the most recent quarter, which exceeded analyst expectations by $0.19, with revenue rising by 41.9% year-over-year.
• Several analysts raised their target prices for Carvana shares, with Piper Sandler and Needham & Company setting targets as high as $500, reflecting optimism about the company's performance.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA - Free Report) by 21.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,489 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,738 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Carvana were worth $1,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Carvana by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,950,011 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,125,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823,218 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Carvana by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,534,843 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,620,785,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109,476 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new stake in Carvana during the 4th quarter valued at $116,020,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Carvana by 89.8% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,018,321 shares of the company's stock worth $207,086,000 after acquiring an additional 481,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whale Rock Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Carvana by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 1,214,679 shares of the company's stock worth $247,017,000 after acquiring an additional 278,760 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on CVNA. Gordon Haskett started coverage on Carvana in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $329.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer upgraded Carvana from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $450.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Carvana from $375.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Carvana from $340.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Carvana from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Carvana has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $383.47.

Insider Activity at Carvana

In other Carvana news, major shareholder Ernest C. Garcia II sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.76, for a total transaction of $35,376,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,437,346 shares in the company, valued at $12,890,075,520.96. This represents a 0.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Ernest C. Garcia II sold 93,376 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.16, for a total value of $36,805,084.16. Following the transaction, the insider owned 6,624 shares in the company, valued at $2,610,915.84. This trade represents a 93.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,522,933 shares of company stock valued at $888,062,136 over the last quarter. 17.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Carvana Price Performance

Shares of Carvana stock traded down $0.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $369.23. 2,443,272 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,330,485. The business has a 50-day moving average of $351.83 and a 200 day moving average of $285.57. Carvana Co. has a fifty-two week low of $124.39 and a fifty-two week high of $413.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.46 billion, a PE ratio of 92.54, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 3.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 4.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.54 billion. Carvana had a return on equity of 40.57% and a net margin of 3.46%.The business's revenue was up 41.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.05) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Carvana Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

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.