Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Makes New Investment in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise has acquired 15,648 shares of Copart, Inc., investing approximately $885,000 during the first quarter, as reported in their recent SEC filing.
• Significant growth was noted in institutional investments, with Edgewood Management LLC increasing its stake by 14.1% and Fiera Capital Corp by 195.6% in the same period.
• Copart's CEO, Jeffrey Liaw, sold 24,088 shares for over $1.1 million, reducing his ownership by 43.31%.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 15,648 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $885,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Copart by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,409,377 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,230,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249,687 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC raised its position in shares of Copart by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 23,463,118 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,346,548,000 after buying an additional 2,907,405 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Copart by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,353,932 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,225,502,000 after buying an additional 169,354 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Copart by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,504,704 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $832,425,000 after buying an additional 380,691 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Copart by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,865,301 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $508,780,000 after buying an additional 971,940 shares during the period. 85.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CPRT has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Copart from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Copart in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Copart from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th.

Copart Trading Up 0.4%

Copart stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Friday, hitting $45.51. The company had a trading volume of 5,688,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,986,555. Copart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.05 and a 1-year high of $64.38. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $48.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.60. The stock has a market cap of $44.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.94 and a beta of 1.04.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. Copart had a net margin of 32.21% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Copart

In other Copart news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 31,527 shares in the company, valued at $1,463,798.61. The trade was a 43.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 9.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Copart 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.