Qsemble Capital Management LP Boosts Stake in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Qsemble Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 193.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 129,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 85,277 shares during the quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP’s holdings in Copart were worth $5,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CPRT. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Copart by 298.2% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,887,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $217,243,000 after purchasing an additional 3,660,031 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Copart by 2,266.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,689,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $165,895,000 after purchasing an additional 3,533,133 shares during the period. Akre Capital Management LLC raised its position in Copart by 253.1% in the third quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 4,236,760 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $190,527,000 after purchasing an additional 3,036,760 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Copart by 2.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,990,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,901,310,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581,784 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Copart by 395.6% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,499,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $112,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995,074 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CPRT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $32.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Copart in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Copart from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 price objective on Copart and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Copart from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Copart presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.18, for a total transaction of $869,747.34. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 9.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Copart Price Performance

CPRT opened at $32.30 on Friday. Copart, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.20 and a 12 month high of $63.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $33.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.55.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The business services provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.03). Copart had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 33.76%.The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Copart, Inc. will post 1.58 earnings per share 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.