Fred Alger Management LLC Increases Stake in Carvana Co. $CVNA

Key Points

• Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in Carvana Co. by 139.7%, acquiring 33,083 shares valued at approximately $6.9 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted their positions, with Price T Rowe Associates Inc. and Vanguard Group Inc. increasing their holdings significantly in the first quarter.
• Carvana's stock has received multiple positive ratings from analysts, with Bank of America raising its price target to $425 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts.

Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA - Free Report) by 139.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,083 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 19,279 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC's holdings in Carvana were worth $6,917,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in shares of Carvana by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Carvana by 84.6% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 971 shares of the company's stock worth $197,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Carvana by 543.8% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 288,343 shares of the company's stock worth $58,637,000 after acquiring an additional 243,553 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in Carvana by 146.9% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 7,033 shares of the company's stock worth $1,430,000 after acquiring an additional 4,184 shares during the period. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Carvana by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 41,230 shares of the company's stock worth $8,385,000 after acquiring an additional 10,212 shares during the period. 56.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Ernest C. Garcia II sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 36,437,346 shares in the company, valued at $12,890,075,520.96. This trade represents a 0.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Ernest C. Garcia II sold 93,376 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,423,157 shares of company stock worth $856,602,667 in the last quarter. Insiders own 17.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on CVNA shares. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Carvana from $300.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Carvana from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Carvana in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Carvana from $365.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Carvana from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $383.47.

Carvana Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CVNA traded up $7.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $361.66. 2,873,426 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,983,991. The firm has a market cap of $77.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.64, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 3.51. Carvana Co. has a twelve month low of $140.23 and a twelve month high of $413.33. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $353.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.02. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.19. Carvana had a net margin of 3.46% and a return on equity of 40.57%. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.05) EPS. The business's revenue was up 41.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Carvana Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.