Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 43,743 Shares of Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,948,441 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 43,743 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Copart were worth $76,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CPRT. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Copart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Aventura Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Copart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Copart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Copart during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Copart by 36.7% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CPRT. Jefferies Financial Group set a $45.00 price target on shares of Copart in a report on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Copart from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Copart from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 target price on shares of Copart and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Two investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Copart news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.18, for a total transaction of $869,747.34. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 79,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,638,871.76. The trade was a 24.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 9.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Copart Price Performance

CPRT opened at $30.86 on Tuesday. Copart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.97 and a fifty-two week high of $50.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $32.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.45.

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

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.