Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 9,756 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 132% compared to the typical volume of 4,201 call options.

Copart Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:CPRT traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.05. 2,216,362 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,416,987. Copart has a 52 week low of $38.18 and a 52 week high of $63.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.82 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $41.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.48.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The business services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. Copart had a return on equity of 17.78% and a net margin of 34.24%.The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Copart will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.07, for a total value of $3,907,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,283 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.79, for a total value of $1,087,635.57. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 31,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,403,360.28. This represents a 43.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 9.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Copart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Copart by 92.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,215 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 6,817 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Copart by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,939,813 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,315,000 after acquiring an additional 187,848 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Copart by 3.9% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,252,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $70,867,000 after acquiring an additional 47,176 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its position in shares of Copart by 256.6% during the first quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 18,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,062,000 after acquiring an additional 13,520 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC raised its stake in shares of Copart by 122.6% during the first quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 11,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $633,000 after acquiring an additional 6,160 shares in the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CPRT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HSBC set a $62.00 target price on shares of Copart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Copart in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Copart from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Copart from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Copart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.60.

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.