Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) Sets New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $29.37 and last traded at $29.4690, with a volume of 2056396 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $30.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CPRT. Jefferies Financial Group set a $45.00 price target on Copart in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered Copart from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Copart presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.50.

Copart Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.89 and a beta of 1.01.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The business services provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Copart had a net margin of 33.48% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Copart, Inc. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Copart news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.18, for a total transaction of $869,747.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 79,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,638,871.76. This represents a 24.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 9.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Copart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Copart by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,555,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,470,295,000 after purchasing an additional 492,506 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Copart by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 27,728,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,085,588,000 after purchasing an additional 5,555,101 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Copart by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,255,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $906,836,000 after buying an additional 131,703 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Copart by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,982,589 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $860,618,000 after buying an additional 3,918,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Copart in the fourth quarter worth about $569,569,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

About Copart

Copart (NASDAQ: CPRT) is a global provider of online vehicle auction and remarketing services, focused primarily on the sale of salvage and clean-title vehicles. The company operates a technology-driven auction platform that connects sellers — including insurance companies, vehicle finance firms, rental car companies, dealerships and fleet owners — with a broad buyer base consisting of vehicle dismantlers, recyclers, rebuilders and retail buyers. Copart’s business model centers on efficient vehicle disposition using digital bidding and logistics services to maximize recovery value for its clients.

Core services include hosting live and timed online auctions, vehicle listing and inspection support, title processing, and transportation and storage solutions.