Magnetar Financial LLC Invests $208,000 in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Copart by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 106,408,868 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,221,483,000 after acquiring an additional 2,144,946 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Copart by 3.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,462,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $999,305,000 after purchasing an additional 656,333 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Copart by 15.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,345,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $868,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,106,656 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Copart by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,490,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $537,052,000 after buying an additional 658,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Copart by 32.5% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 9,380,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $531,256,000 after buying an additional 2,299,192 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Copart Stock Down 0.8%

CPRT opened at $38.75 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $43.27 and a 200 day moving average of $47.40. The stock has a market cap of $37.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.22 and a beta of 1.06. Copart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.67 and a 52-week high of $64.38.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The business services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 18.17% and a net margin of 33.41%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $33.00 price target (up previously from $32.00) on shares of Copart in a report on Friday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Copart from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Hsbc Global Res raised Copart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. HSBC set a $62.00 price target on Copart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Copart from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.60.

Insider Transactions at Copart

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,283 shares of Copart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.79, for a total transaction of $1,087,635.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 31,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,403,360.28. The trade was a 43.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.07, for a total value of $3,907,000.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 353,123 shares of company stock valued at $15,873,689 in the last quarter. 9.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.