Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

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

Copart Price Performance

CPRT stock opened at $43.88 on Friday. Copart has a fifty-two week low of $26.14 and a fifty-two week high of $47.38. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $50.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.72 and a beta of 1.19.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CPRT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Copart from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Copart from $35.00 to $39.50 in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. StockNews.com started coverage on Copart in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Argus initiated coverage on Copart in a research note on Friday, September 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $53.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.10.

Insider Transactions at Copart

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Copart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Copart by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,968,882 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,881,905,000 after buying an additional 270,867 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Copart by 2.2% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,296,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $697,646,000 after buying an additional 197,609 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Copart by 2.0% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,913,464 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $670,382,000 after buying an additional 172,891 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Copart by 1.0% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,840,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $607,312,000 after buying an additional 48,523 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Copart during the fourth quarter worth $256,878,000. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.