ABC Arbitrage SA Lowers Holdings in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

ABC Arbitrage SA decreased its holdings in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 38.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 25,319 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 15,656 shares during the period. ABC Arbitrage SA’s holdings in Copart were worth $1,139,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CPRT. Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in shares of Copart by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 30,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Copart by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 28,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,422,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Copart by 15.4% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in Copart by 4.9% during the third quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 5,196 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management raised its position in Copart by 13.2% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 2,088 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Copart Trading Down 2.1%

CPRT opened at $39.51 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $39.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.98. Copart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.41 and a 1-year high of $63.85. The company has a market cap of $38.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Insider Transactions at Copart

In other Copart news, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 100,000 shares of Copart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.07, for a total transaction of $3,907,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 25,137 shares of Copart stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.17, for a total value of $1,009,753.29. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,248,314.90. This represents a 30.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 9.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Copart from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Copart from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 24th. CJS Securities raised Copart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (up previously from $32.00) on shares of Copart in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.60.

Copart 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.