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

Shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $47.60.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CPRT shares. CJS Securities raised Copart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Copart from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Copart from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Copart in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $33.00 price objective (up from $32.00) on shares of Copart in a research report on Friday, November 21st.

Copart Price Performance

Copart stock opened at $39.68 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $38.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20 and a beta of 1.10. Copart has a 12 month low of $37.41 and a 12 month high of $63.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.50 and its 200-day moving average is $43.28.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Copart had a net margin of 34.24% and a return on equity of 17.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Copart will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 25,137 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.17, for a total transaction of $1,009,753.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,248,314.90. This trade represents a 30.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.07, for a total transaction of $3,907,000.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 9.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Copart by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,990,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,901,310,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581,784 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Copart by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 40,175,058 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,806,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236,101 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Copart by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,062,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,666,720,000 after buying an additional 656,428 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Copart by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,462,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $999,305,000 after acquiring an additional 656,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Copart in the second quarter valued at approximately $549,448,000. 85.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Copart

Copart (NASDAQ: CPRT) is a global provider of online vehicle auction and remarketing services, focused primarily on the sale of salvage and clean-title vehicles. The company operates a technology-driven auction platform that connects sellers — including insurance companies, vehicle finance firms, rental car companies, dealerships and fleet owners — with a broad buyer base consisting of vehicle dismantlers, recyclers, rebuilders and retail buyers. Copart’s business model centers on efficient vehicle disposition using digital bidding and logistics services to maximize recovery value for its clients.

Core services include hosting live and timed online auctions, vehicle listing and inspection support, title processing, and transportation and storage solutions.