Gries Financial LLC Lowers Position in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Gries Financial LLC lessened its stake in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,401 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 339 shares during the period. Gries Financial LLC’s holdings in Copart were worth $412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CPRT. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Copart in the 1st quarter worth approximately $267,723,000. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its position in shares of Copart by 195.6% during the 1st quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,992,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $225,942,000 after buying an additional 2,642,100 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Copart by 32.5% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 9,380,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $531,256,000 after buying an additional 2,299,192 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Copart by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,263,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,900,295,000 after buying an additional 2,134,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Copart by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,345,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $868,417,000 after buying an additional 2,106,656 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Copart Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of CPRT opened at $45.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.07. The company has a market capitalization of $43.78 billion, a PE ratio of 28.30 and a beta of 1.03. Copart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.95 and a 52-week high of $64.38.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 4th. The business services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 18.17% and a net margin of 33.41%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CPRT shares. Stephens decreased their target price on Copart from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 5th. HSBC set a $62.00 target price on Copart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Copart from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Copart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.50.

Insider Transactions at Copart

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.43, for a total transaction of $1,118,405.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 31,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,463,798.61. This trade represents a 43.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 228,840 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.54, for a total value of $10,879,053.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Copart Profile

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.