JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) Price Target to $52.00

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) had its target price upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $48.00 to $52.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Copart from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Copart Stock Performance

NASDAQ CPRT opened at $56.00 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $53.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.59. Copart has a one year low of $37.92 and a one year high of $58.58. The company has a market cap of $53.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.29 and a beta of 1.22.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.02). Copart had a net margin of 33.41% and a return on equity of 21.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Copart will post 1.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Copart

In other news, Chairman A Jayson Adair sold 600,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.77, for a total transaction of $34,662,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 19,687,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,137,374,604.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 285,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $15,751,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,450. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman A Jayson Adair sold 600,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.77, for a total value of $34,662,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 19,687,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,137,374,604.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 985,000 shares of company stock worth $55,519,950. 10.23% 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 bought and sold shares of CPRT. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Copart by 1,212.2% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 3,110 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 2,873 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Copart by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in Copart by 52.1% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 10,823 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 3,707 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its position in Copart by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 286,903 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,998,000 after purchasing an additional 13,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Copart by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,968,882 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,881,905,000 after purchasing an additional 270,867 shares in the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Copart Company Profile

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.