Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) Stock Price Down 3.7% – Should You Sell?

Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)’s stock price fell 3.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $29.80 and last traded at $29.6650. Approximately 1,082,391 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 10,140,460 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.82.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CPRT shares. Barrington Research upgraded Copart from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, September 11th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Copart in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Zacks Research raised Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $40.00 target price on Copart in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Copart from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.22.

Copart Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $30.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.86. The company has a market cap of $27.11 billion, a PE ratio of 18.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.03.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 10th. The business services provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 15.93% and a net margin of 31.81%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Copart, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Copart

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 27,745 shares of Copart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.49, for a total transaction of $845,945.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 99,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,038,054.09. The trade was a 21.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Copart

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Copart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,908,980,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Copart by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 27,728,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,085,588,000 after purchasing an additional 5,555,101 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Copart by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,255,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $906,836,000 after purchasing an additional 131,703 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Copart by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,982,589 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $860,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,918,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Copart during the second quarter valued at $436,413,000. Institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Copart Company Profile

Copart, Inc (NASDAQ: CPRT) provides online vehicle auction and remarketing services. The company operates a global marketplace where damaged, recovered, used and other vehicles are sold primarily through online auctions. Its offerings include salvage and clean-title vehicles, with inventory sourced from insurance companies, banks, dealerships, fleet operators, rental companies, government agencies and other organizations.

Copart supports the vehicle remarketing process through inspection, storage, transportation, title processing and auction services.