Vanguard Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 108,666,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 324,577 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Copart worth $4,254,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CPRT. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Copart by 3.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 40,175,058 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,806,674,000 after buying an additional 1,236,101 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Copart by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,062,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,666,720,000 after buying an additional 656,428 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Copart by 7.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,931,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $491,606,000 after buying an additional 771,573 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Copart by 1.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,931,216 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $401,637,000 after buying an additional 97,411 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of Copart by 25.4% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 8,777,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $394,720,000 after buying an additional 1,776,968 shares during the period. 85.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CPRT. Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Copart and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Copart from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Copart from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $32.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Copart in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Copart in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.40.

Insider Transactions at Copart

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.18, for a total value of $869,747.34. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 79,532 shares in the company, valued at $2,638,871.76. The trade was a 24.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Copart Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of CPRT stock opened at $33.19 on Tuesday. Copart, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.20 and a 12 month high of $63.85. The stock has a market cap of $31.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.74 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $34.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.46.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The business services provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. Copart had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Copart, Inc. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Copart Company Profile

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.