Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) Stock Price Down 4.3% Following Analyst Downgrade

Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)’s stock price fell 4.3% during mid-day trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $45.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Copart traded as low as $39.21 and last traded at $38.9650. 661,016 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 6,267,439 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.73.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Copart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $33.00 price objective (up previously from $32.00) on shares of Copart in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Copart from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Copart in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, HSBC set a $62.00 price target on shares of Copart and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Copart currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,283 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.79, for a total transaction of $1,087,635.57. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 31,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,403,360.28. This trade represents a 43.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 228,840 shares of Copart stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.54, for a total transaction of $10,879,053.60. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 9.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CPRT. Prana Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Copart by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 58,103 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,613,000 after acquiring an additional 4,755 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in Copart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,158,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its position in Copart by 66.6% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 71,276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,205,000 after purchasing an additional 28,496 shares during the last quarter. Caerus Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Copart during the third quarter valued at approximately $452,000. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Copart by 4.5% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364 shares during the period. 85.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Copart Stock Down 4.5%

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $43.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.62. The stock has a market cap of $37.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.32 and a beta of 1.06.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The business services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Copart had a net margin of 33.41% and a return on equity of 18.17%. The firm’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

About Copart

Copart, Inc provides online auctions and vehicle remarketing services. It offers a range of services for processing and selling vehicles over the Internet through its Virtual Bidding Third Generation Internet auction-style sales technology on behalf of vehicle sellers, insurance companies, banks and finance companies, charities, and fleet operators and dealers, as well as individual owners.