Aurora Investment Counsel Takes $2.54 Million Position in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new stake in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 64,879 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,540,000. Copart accounts for 1.3% of Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 2,581,784 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Copart by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,555,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,470,295,000 after buying an additional 492,506 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Copart by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 27,728,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,085,588,000 after buying an additional 5,555,101 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Copart by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,255,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $906,836,000 after buying an additional 131,703 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Copart by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,982,589 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $860,618,000 after buying an additional 3,918,610 shares during the period. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on CPRT shares. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $32.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Copart in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 price target on Copart and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Copart from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Copart from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of Copart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.18, for a total transaction of $869,747.34. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 79,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,638,871.76. This trade represents a 24.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 9.60% of the company’s stock.

Copart Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of CPRT opened at $30.75 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $32.85 and a 200 day moving average of $36.20. The company has a market capitalization of $28.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10 and a beta of 1.00. Copart, Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.97 and a 12 month high of $50.11.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The business services provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 33.48%.Copart’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

About Copart

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.