AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Takes $703,000 Position in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 17,969 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $703,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in 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 period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Copart by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 798,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,353,000 after buying an additional 31,658 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 worth $1,806,674,000 after buying an additional 1,236,101 shares during the period. Yacktman Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Copart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,382,000. Finally, Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. grew its position in shares of 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 worth $143,091,000 after buying an additional 212,520 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Copart Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ CPRT opened at $32.30 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.55. Copart, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.20 and a 12-month high of $63.85. The company has a market cap of $31.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.19 and a beta of 1.02.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The business services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.03). Copart had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Copart news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.18, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 24.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on CPRT. Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Copart and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $32.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Copart in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Copart from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Copart from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.