Copart, Inc. $CPRT Shares Purchased by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 89.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,548,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,200,035 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Copart were worth $125,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CPRT. Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in shares of Copart by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 30,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,487,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its holdings in shares of Copart by 1.8% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 12,590 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $712,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Copart by 4.0% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,780 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Copart by 0.8% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 28,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,422,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Copart by 15.4% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Copart Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CPRT opened at $38.72 on Monday. Copart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.61 and a fifty-two week high of $63.85. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $42.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61 and a beta of 1.12.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The business services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. Copart had a return on equity of 17.78% and a net margin of 34.24%.The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (up from $32.00) on shares of Copart in a report on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Copart in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Copart from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Copart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price target on Copart from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Copart

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,283 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.79, for a total transaction of $1,087,635.57. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 31,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,403,360.28. This represents a 43.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.07, for a total value of $3,907,000.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 353,123 shares of company stock worth $15,873,689 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 9.60% of the company’s stock.

Copart 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.