Fortis Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Fortis Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 85.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,085 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 95,694 shares during the quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Copart were worth $723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CPRT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Copart in the second quarter valued at approximately $549,448,000. Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in Copart by 75.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 7,000,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,511,000 after buying an additional 3,007,820 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Copart by 75.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,579,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $322,851,000 after acquiring an additional 2,824,991 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Copart by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,990,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,901,310,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581,784 shares during the period. Finally, Jensen Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Copart by 39.4% during the 2nd quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,315,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $260,849,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503,771 shares during the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Copart

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 25,137 shares of Copart stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.17, for a total value of $1,009,753.29. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,248,314.90. The trade was a 30.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CPRT shares. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $32.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Copart in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Copart from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 price objective on Copart and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, CJS Securities upgraded Copart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.40.

Copart Stock Performance

Shares of CPRT stock opened at $35.36 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.45. Copart, Inc. has a one year low of $33.81 and a one year high of $63.85. The firm has a market cap of $34.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10 and a beta of 1.08.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The business services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Copart had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal 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.