Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) Short Interest Update

Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,260,000 shares, a growth of 31.4% from the February 28th total of 10,850,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 4,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Copart Stock Performance

Shares of Copart stock traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $57.89. 1,152,448 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,264,680. Copart has a 52 week low of $48.05 and a 52 week high of $64.38. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.33. The company has a market cap of $55.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.85 and a beta of 1.30.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 32.27%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Copart will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Argus lowered Copart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Copart

In other Copart news, Director Matt Blunt sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.66, for a total value of $2,883,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James E. Meeks sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total transaction of $5,400,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 385,480 shares of company stock valued at $21,667,683 in the last 90 days. 9.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Copart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Copart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $682,089,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Copart in the 4th quarter valued at $253,686,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Copart by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 19,440,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,115,664,000 after acquiring an additional 3,667,534 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC raised its holdings in Copart by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 23,463,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,346,548,000 after acquiring an additional 2,907,405 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Copart by 335.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,705,354 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $149,471,000 after acquiring an additional 2,084,626 shares during the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Copart Company Profile

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.