Copart Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 2,944 call options on the company. This is an increase of 32% compared to the average volume of 2,233 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CPRT shares. StockNews.com lowered Copart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Copart from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Copart presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.00.

Copart Trading Up 0.9 %

Copart stock opened at $55.73 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.41. Copart has a 12 month low of $38.53 and a 12 month high of $58.58. The company has a market capitalization of $53.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.09 and a beta of 1.22.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 21.55% and a net margin of 33.41%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Copart will post 1.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Copart

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 19,687,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,137,374,604.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Chairman A Jayson Adair sold 600,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 19,687,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,137,374,604.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 285,000 shares of Copart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $15,751,950.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,450. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 985,000 shares of company stock valued at $55,519,950. 10.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Copart

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rathbones Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Copart by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 7,821 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Copart by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,133 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in shares of Copart by 79.6% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 528 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of Copart by 1.5% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 16,791 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $952,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Copart by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Copart

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.