14,548,385 Shares in Copart, Inc. $CPRT Purchased by Norges Bank

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 14,548,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $569,569,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Copart by 2.4% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Copart by 3.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 40,175,058 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,806,674,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236,101 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Copart by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,062,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,666,720,000 after acquiring an additional 656,428 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Copart by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,255,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $906,836,000 after acquiring an additional 131,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Copart by 7.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,931,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $491,606,000 after buying an additional 771,573 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Copart Stock Performance

Shares of Copart stock opened at $32.77 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.57 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35 and a beta of 1.01. Copart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.20 and a 52-week high of $52.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.88.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The business services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.02. Copart had a net margin of 33.48% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Copart, Inc. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Copart

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CPRT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 target price on shares of Copart and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $45.00 target price on shares of Copart in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Copart from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $32.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Copart in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Copart currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.