Equitable Trust Co. Purchases New Shares in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Equitable Trust Co. acquired a new stake in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 51,621 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,714,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CPRT. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Copart by 92.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,215 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $816,000 after buying an additional 6,817 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Copart by 365.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 878 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Copart in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,677,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Copart by 110.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 900,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,179,000 after acquiring an additional 471,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Copart by 3.5% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 413,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,270,000 after acquiring an additional 13,860 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Copart

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of Copart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.18, for a total transaction of $869,747.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 79,532 shares in the company, valued at $2,638,871.76. The trade was a 24.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 9.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CPRT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $45.00 target price on shares of Copart in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Copart from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Copart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Copart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Copart Stock Down 2.9%

Copart stock opened at $27.51 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.88. The stock has a market cap of $25.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09 and a beta of 1.02. Copart, Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.49 and a 12-month high of $50.11.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The business services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.02. Copart had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 33.48%.The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Copart, Inc. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

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.