Short Interest in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) Drops By 7.1%

Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,560,000 shares, a decline of 7.1% from the January 15th total of 11,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,850,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Copart Price Performance

Shares of CPRT stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $59.59. The stock had a trading volume of 3,188,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,300,968. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.42 billion, a PE ratio of 41.96 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $58.20 and its 200 day moving average is $55.56. Copart has a twelve month low of $48.05 and a twelve month high of $64.38.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The business services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. Copart had a net margin of 31.92% and a return on equity of 18.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. Copart’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Copart will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Copart

In other Copart news, Chairman A Jayson Adair sold 251,423 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.79, for a total transaction of $16,038,273.17. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 14,436,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $920,907,971.03. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Daniel J. Englander sold 235,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.84, for a total transaction of $13,384,683.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 650,213 shares of company stock valued at $39,199,813 over the last three months. 9.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Copart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Copart by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 9,747 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank raised its stake in shares of Copart by 59.5% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 472 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank raised its stake in shares of Copart by 0.6% during the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 31,549 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,653,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Copart by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC grew its position in Copart by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 4,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Copart from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th.

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.