Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) Stock Price Down 3.7% – Here’s What Happened

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on CPRT. Jefferies Financial Group set a $45.00 target price on Copart in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays set a $25.00 target price on shares of Copart and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Copart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 7th. Finally, Barrington Research upgraded Copart from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Copart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.22.

Copart Stock Down 3.9%

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $30.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.94. The stock has a market cap of $27.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Insider Transactions at Copart

In other Copart news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 27,745 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 99,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,038,054.09. This trade represents a 21.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 9.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Copart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in Copart in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Copart during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Cache Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Copart in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Copart by 110.9% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 947 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Copart by 14,062.5% during the second quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,125 shares during the period. 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.