Employees Retirement System of Texas Buys 22,600 Shares of Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 19.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 138,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,600 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Copart were worth $5,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised 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 buying an additional 45,346 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Copart by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 798,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,353,000 after purchasing an additional 31,658 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Copart by 3.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,236,101 shares during the last quarter. Yacktman Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Copart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,382,000. Finally, Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. boosted its holdings in shares of Copart by 7.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 212,520 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of Copart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.18, for a total value of $869,747.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 79,532 shares in the company, valued at $2,638,871.76. This trade represents a 24.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 9.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Copart Price Performance

Shares of CPRT stock opened at $32.85 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $31.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.40 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $33.24 and its 200 day moving average is $36.99. Copart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.20 and a 1-year high of $53.09.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The business services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. Copart had a net margin of 33.48% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $45.00 price target on shares of Copart in a report on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Copart from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Copart from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $32.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Copart in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Two research 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 MarketBeat.com, Copart currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.50.

Copart Company 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.