Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $44.40.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CPRT shares. Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 price target on Copart and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research upgraded Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings cut Copart from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Copart from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $32.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Copart in a report on Monday, February 23rd.

Copart Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CPRT opened at $32.94 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.67. Copart has a fifty-two week low of $32.20 and a fifty-two week high of $63.85.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The business services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Copart had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. Research analysts predict that Copart will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Copart news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.18, for a total transaction of $869,747.34. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 79,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,638,871.76. This represents a 24.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 9.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Copart

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Copart by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 371,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,711,000 after buying an additional 45,346 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in 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 buying an additional 1,236,101 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Copart by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 798,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,353,000 after buying an additional 31,658 shares during the last quarter. Yacktman Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Copart in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,382,000. Finally, Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. raised its position in Copart by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 3,181,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $143,091,000 after buying an additional 212,520 shares during the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Copart Company Profile

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.