Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) Given New $36.00 Price Target at Freedom Broker

Key Points

• Freedom Broker lowered Copart’s price target from $39 to $36 while maintaining a “buy” rating, implying approximately 13.46% upside from the reported $31.73 share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with Copart holding a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $37.38, despite ratings ranging from “Strong Buy” to “Sell.”
• Copart’s latest quarterly revenue reached $1.15 billion, slightly exceeding estimates, but adjusted earnings of $0.35 per share missed consensus by $0.03; revenue increased 2.4% year over year.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by Freedom Broker from $39.00 to $36.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the business services provider's stock. Freedom Broker's price target points to a potential upside of 13.46% from the company's current price.

CPRT has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Copart in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $45.00 price target on Copart in a report on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Copart from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Barrington Research upgraded Copart from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays set a $25.00 price target on Copart and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.38.

Copart Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CPRT traded up $1.78 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $31.73. 11,280,310 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,224,144. Copart has a 12 month low of $26.81 and a 12 month high of $48.77. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $30.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.05. The firm has a market cap of $29.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.47, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.03.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 10th. The business services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 15.93% and a net margin of 31.81%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Copart will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 27,745 shares of Copart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.49, for a total value of $845,945.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 99,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,038,054.09. This trade represents a 21.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Copart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Copart during the 2nd quarter worth $1,908,980,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Copart by 2,995.5% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 40,541,392 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,142,862,000 after acquiring an additional 39,231,718 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Copart by 25.1% during the fourth 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 131,703 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased 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 valued at $860,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,918,610 shares in the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Copart

Copart, Inc NASDAQ: CPRT provides online vehicle auction and remarketing services. The company operates a global marketplace where damaged, recovered, used and other vehicles are sold primarily through online auctions. Its offerings include salvage and clean-title vehicles, with inventory sourced from insurance companies, banks, dealerships, fleet operators, rental companies, government agencies and other organizations.

Copart supports the vehicle remarketing process through inspection, storage, transportation, title processing and auction services.

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