Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The business services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02, MarketWatch Earnings reports. The company had revenue of $997.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $962.91 million. Copart had a net margin of 30.72% and a return on equity of 22.80%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share.

Copart Price Performance

Shares of CPRT stock opened at $43.88 on Friday. Copart has a 1 year low of $26.14 and a 1 year high of $47.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $50.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.80. The company has a market cap of $41.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.72 and a beta of 1.19.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on CPRT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Copart from $35.00 to $39.50 in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Copart from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Argus began coverage on shares of Copart in a research report on Friday, September 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $53.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Copart in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Copart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO A Jayson Adair sold 600,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.16, for a total transaction of $26,496,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,294,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,185,689.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Willis J. Johnson sold 1,320,000 shares of Copart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.54, for a total transaction of $58,786,200.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 3,547,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,995,216.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO A Jayson Adair sold 600,000 shares of Copart stock in a transaction on Friday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.16, for a total transaction of $26,496,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 20,294,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,185,689.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CPRT. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,873 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Copart by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in Copart by 52.1% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 10,823 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 3,707 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Copart by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 286,903 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,998,000 after purchasing an additional 13,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $2,881,905,000 after purchasing an additional 270,867 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

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.