Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The business services provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $987.90 million. Copart had a return on equity of 22.46% and a net margin of 31.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share.

Copart Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Copart stock opened at $50.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.22 billion, a PE ratio of 39.23 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.39. Copart has a 12 month low of $29.61 and a 12 month high of $51.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen Fisher sold 160,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.69, for a total value of $7,310,400.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Matt Blunt sold 49,435 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.11, for a total value of $2,131,142.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen Fisher sold 160,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.69, for a total transaction of $7,310,400.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 10.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Copart

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CPRT. Veritable L.P. raised its position in shares of Copart by 0.9% in the first quarter. Veritable L.P. now owns 15,198 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,143,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of Copart by 0.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 71,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,560,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its position in shares of Copart by 92.1% in the first quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 438 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Copart by 3.9% in the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 5,640 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $600,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Copart by 2.6% in the first quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 9,286 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $698,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CPRT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Copart from $39.50 to $41.00 in a research note on Monday, September 18th. StockNews.com raised Copart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Copart from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 15th. Finally, Argus assumed coverage on Copart in a report on Friday, September 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $53.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.40.

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.