Capital Research Global Investors Sells 5,374,719 Shares of Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Capital Research Global Investors lowered its holdings in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 57.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,972,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,374,719 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors owned 0.41% of Copart worth $155,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Copart in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Aventura Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Copart in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Copart in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Copart in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Copart by 36.7% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 79,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,638,871.76. This represents a 24.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 9.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CPRT. Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 target price on shares of Copart and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Copart from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $45.00 target price on shares of Copart in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Copart from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Copart currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Copart Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Copart stock opened at $30.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 1.01. Copart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.97 and a 1-year high of $50.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $32.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.45.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. Copart had a net margin of 33.48% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.58 EPS for the current 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.