New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Reduces Stock Position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lowered its stake in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Copart were worth $2,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Copart in the fourth quarter worth $682,089,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Copart in the fourth quarter worth $253,686,000. Edgewood Management LLC raised its position in shares of Copart by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 23,463,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,346,548,000 after buying an additional 2,907,405 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Copart by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,157,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $812,488,000 after buying an additional 1,785,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Copart by 58.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,296,060 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $246,551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590,706 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Copart Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:CPRT opened at $47.64 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $53.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.88. Copart, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.33 and a 12-month high of $64.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34 and a beta of 1.07.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. Copart had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 32.21%. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on CPRT shares. Stephens started coverage on Copart in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Copart from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Argus cut Copart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Steven D. Cohan sold 94,997 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total transaction of $5,700,769.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.68% of the company’s stock.

About Copart

Copart, Inc provides online auctions and vehicle remarketing services. It offers a range of services for processing and selling vehicles over the Internet through its Virtual Bidding Third Generation Internet auction-style sales technology on behalf of vehicle sellers, insurance companies, banks and finance companies, charities, and fleet operators and dealers, as well as individual owners.