Bell Asset Management Ltd Purchases New Stake in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Bell Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 88,622 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,985,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Copart by 2.4% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Copart by 3.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 40,175,058 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,806,674,000 after buying an additional 1,236,101 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Copart by 3.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,406,503 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,786,467,000 after buying an additional 1,167,265 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Copart by 3.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,462,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $999,305,000 after acquiring an additional 656,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Copart during the 2nd quarter worth $549,448,000. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on CPRT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Copart from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 price objective on Copart and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. CJS Securities upgraded Copart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research lowered Copart from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $32.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Copart in a report on Monday, February 23rd. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.40.

Copart Stock Performance

CPRT opened at $37.72 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $39.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.83. The firm has a market cap of $36.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.58 and a beta of 1.09. Copart, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.81 and a twelve month high of $63.85.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Copart news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 25,137 shares of Copart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.17, for a total transaction of $1,009,753.29. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,248,314.90. The trade was a 30.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 9.60% of the company’s stock.

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.