Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) Announces Earnings Results

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The business services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02, MarketWatch Earnings reports. The firm had revenue of $997.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.91 million. Copart had a net margin of 30.72% and a return on equity of 22.80%. Copart’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 EPS.

Copart Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CPRT traded up $0.54 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $44.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,465,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,048,986. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $50.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.73. Copart has a one year low of $26.14 and a one year high of $47.38. The company has a market cap of $42.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.38 and a beta of 1.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CPRT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Copart in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Copart from $35.00 to $39.50 in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. Argus assumed coverage on shares of Copart in a research note on Friday, September 8th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Copart from $39.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Copart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO A Jayson Adair sold 600,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.16, for a total value of $26,496,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,294,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,185,689.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Willis J. Johnson sold 1,320,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.54, for a total transaction of $58,786,200.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 3,547,664 shares in the company, valued at $157,995,216.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO A Jayson Adair sold 600,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.16, for a total transaction of $26,496,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,294,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,185,689.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CPRT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Copart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $256,878,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Copart by 132.1% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,076,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $248,223,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319,939 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Copart by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,635,778 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $160,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,577 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Copart by 94.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,351,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $82,282,000 after purchasing an additional 657,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Copart by 15.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,622,885 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $272,477,000 after purchasing an additional 488,500 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.