Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) CEO Jeffrey Liaw Sells 26,213 Shares of Stock

Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of Copart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.18, for a total value 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. The trade was a 24.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Copart Stock Up 0.5%

CPRT stock opened at $33.45 on Friday. Copart, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.20 and a twelve month high of $63.85. The stock has a market cap of $32.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $35.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.01.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The business services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.03). Copart had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Copart

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Copart by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 371,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,711,000 after purchasing an additional 45,346 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Copart by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 40,175,058 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,806,674,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236,101 shares during the period. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. boosted its holdings in Copart by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 3,181,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $143,091,000 after acquiring an additional 212,520 shares during the period. Yacktman Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Copart during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,382,000. Finally, Elevate Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Copart during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,472,000. Institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CPRT. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $32.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Copart in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 target price on Copart and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Copart in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on 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 downgraded Copart from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.40.

About Copart

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.