Argent Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Key Points

• Argent Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Copart, Inc. by 0.8% during Q2, holding 1,425,323 shares valued at approximately $69.9 million, which represents 2.0% of their total holdings.
• Recent analyst reviews show mixed sentiments, with Robert W. Baird lowering their price target to $55.00 while HSBC upgraded shares from "hold" to "strong-buy," contributing to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $54.50.
• Copart's latest earnings report indicated an EPS of $0.41, beating expectations, with revenue reaching $1.13 billion, a 2.9% increase year-over-year despite falling short of analysts' forecasts.

Argent Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,425,323 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 11,089 shares during the period. Copart makes up about 2.0% of Argent Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Argent Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Copart worth $69,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CPRT. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Copart in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Copart during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Atticus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Copart during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Copart during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Copart by 152.6% during the 1st quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 783 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CPRT. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Copart from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Copart from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Copart from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, HSBC set a $62.00 price objective on Copart and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Copart has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.50.

Copart Stock Performance

CPRT opened at $45.38 on Tuesday. Copart, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.05 and a 1 year high of $64.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $47.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.12. The company has a market cap of $43.88 billion, a PE ratio of 28.36 and a beta of 1.03.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The business services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.04. Copart had a net margin of 33.41% and a return on equity of 18.17%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. Copart's revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 228,840 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.54, for a total value of $10,879,053.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.43, for a total value of $1,118,405.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 31,527 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,463,798.61. This trade represents a 43.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Copart Company Profile

Copart, Inc provides online auctions and vehicle remarketing services. It offers a range of services for processing and selling vehicles over the Internet through its Virtual Bidding Third Generation Internet auction-style sales technology on behalf of vehicle sellers, insurance companies, banks and finance companies, charities, and fleet operators and dealers, as well as individual owners.

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