Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) Stock Breaks Above 50 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)’s stock price passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.57 and traded as high as $30.38. Copart shares last traded at $30.13, with a volume of 13,446,355 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barrington Research upgraded Copart from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Copart in a report on Thursday, August 20th. HSBC cut Copart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Zacks Research raised Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Copart in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.80.

Copart Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $27.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $29.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.44.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 10th. The business services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 15.93% and a net margin of 31.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. Analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Copart news, Director Diane Morefield sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.66, for a total transaction of $553,200.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,383,000. This trade represents a 28.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 9.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Copart

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CPRT. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in Copart in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Copart during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Copart by 110.9% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 947 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Copart by 3,550.0% during the third quarter. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,022 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in shares of Copart by 62.5% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

About Copart

Copart, Inc is a provider of online vehicle auction and remarketing services. The company operates a digital marketplace that connects vehicle sellers with a broad network of buyers, including licensed dismantlers, rebuilders, used-car dealers, exporters and individual consumers.

Copart primarily sells vehicles that have been damaged, declared total losses by insurers, repossessed, donated or otherwise designated for resale. Its services also include vehicle storage, transportation, towing coordination, title processing, inspection and auction support.