B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Raises Stock Holdings in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its holdings in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 13.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,886 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Copart were worth $6,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CPRT. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Copart in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Copart during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Copart by 125.2% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 653 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Copart by 54.0% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 730 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Copart by 173.4% in the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 864 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CPRT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Copart and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Barclays reissued 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. Zacks Research lowered shares of Copart from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Finally, CJS Securities upgraded Copart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Copart news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 25,137 shares of Copart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.17, for a total value of $1,009,753.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,970 shares in the company, valued at $2,248,314.90. The trade was a 30.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Copart Price Performance

CPRT stock opened at $37.72 on Monday. Copart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.81 and a 1-year high of $63.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.83. The firm has a market cap of $36.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.58 and a beta of 1.09.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The business services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.03). Copart had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 33.76%.The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.