Congress Asset Management Co. Decreases Stock Holdings in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Congress Asset Management Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 31.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 38,073 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17,315 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Copart were worth $1,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Copart by 2.4% during 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 buying an additional 2,581,784 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position 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 worth $1,806,674,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236,101 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Copart by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,062,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,666,720,000 after acquiring an additional 656,428 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Copart during the second quarter worth approximately $549,448,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Copart by 7.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,931,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $491,606,000 after purchasing an additional 771,573 shares during the period. 85.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Copart Stock Performance

CPRT opened at $33.08 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $37.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.56. Copart, Inc. has a one year low of $32.20 and a one year high of $63.85. The stock has a market cap of $31.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68 and a beta of 1.09.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Copart had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 16.68%. Copart’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 25,137 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,248,314.90. This represents a 30.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.60% of the company’s stock.

Copart Company 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.