Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $51.00.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CPRT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Copart from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut Copart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Copart news, Director Matt Blunt sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.06, for a total value of $5,106,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 285,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $15,751,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,934,450. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Matt Blunt sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.06, for a total value of $5,106,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 985,000 shares of company stock worth $55,519,950. 10.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Copart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in Copart by 101.0% during the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Copart during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Copart during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its position in Copart by 87.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 694 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Copart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CPRT opened at $52.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $50.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.04 and a beta of 1.22. Copart has a 1 year low of $38.35 and a 1 year high of $58.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.05.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 21.55% and a net margin of 33.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Copart will post 1.42 EPS 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.