First Trust Advisors LP Has $128.50 Million Stake in Carvana Co. $CVNA

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its position in shares of Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) by 13.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 408,750 shares of the company’s stock after selling 66,097 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Carvana were worth $128,503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ascentis Independent Advisors bought a new stake in Carvana during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Carvana during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Carvana during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Carvana by 152.6% during the 1st quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 96 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Carvana during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 56.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $76.99, for a total transaction of $3,849,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 529,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,791,131.52. This represents a 8.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.15, for a total transaction of $375,838.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 315,075 shares in the company, valued at $21,157,286.25. This trade represents a 1.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 396,962 shares of company stock valued at $28,525,088 over the last three months. 15.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CVNA. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Carvana from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $94.00 price objective (up from $93.00) on shares of Carvana in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Carvana from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $107.40 target price on shares of Carvana in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $97.00 price target on shares of Carvana in a report on Friday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.53.

Carvana Stock Performance

Shares of CVNA opened at $60.32 on Friday. Carvana Co. has a one year low of $54.46 and a one year high of $97.38. The company has a market cap of $66.16 billion, a PE ratio of 36.69, a P/E/G ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 3.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $67.13 and a 200-day moving average of $71.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 2.57.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $1.37. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.12 billion. Carvana had a return on equity of 41.46% and a net margin of 6.40%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Carvana Co. will post 1.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Carvana

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.