Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) issued its quarterly earnings results 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, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $987.90 million. Copart had a return on equity of 22.46% and a net margin of 31.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share.

Copart Price Performance

NASDAQ CPRT opened at $50.22 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.39. Copart has a one year low of $29.61 and a one year high of $51.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.23 and a beta of 1.19.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CPRT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus initiated coverage on Copart in a research note on Friday, September 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $53.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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 note on Monday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Copart from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Copart

In other Copart news, Director Matt Blunt sold 49,435 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.11, for a total value of $2,131,142.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Copart news, Director Matt Blunt sold 49,435 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.11, for a total value of $2,131,142.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 shares were sold at an average price of $45.69, for a total value of $7,310,400.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 10.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Copart

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Copart in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Copart in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Copart in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Copart by 420.0% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 910 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

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.