BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Decreases Stake in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Key Points

• BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. reduced its stake in Copart, Inc. by 3.6% in the first quarter, resulting in ownership of approximately 3.3 million shares valued at $187.16 million.
• The company's CEO, Jeffrey Liaw, sold 24,088 shares of Copart stock at an average price of $46.43, decreasing his ownership by 43.31%.
• Analysts have recently lowered their target prices for Copart, with JPMorgan Chase reducing it from $60 to $55 and Robert W. Baird cutting it from $64 to the same $55 target.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lessened its stake in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,307,290 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 123,190 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned 0.34% of Copart worth $187,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Copart by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,263,922 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,900,295,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,890 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Copart by 3.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,249,687 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased 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 worth $1,225,502,000 after purchasing an additional 169,354 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Copart by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,345,768 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $868,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,106,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Copart by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,490,237 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $537,052,000 after purchasing an additional 658,329 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company's stock.

Copart Trading Up 2.7%

Copart stock traded up $1.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $48.96. 6,224,576 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,697,220. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.59. Copart, Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.05 and a 12-month high of $64.38. The firm has a market cap of $47.34 billion, a PE ratio of 32.21 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CPRT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Copart from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Stephens began coverage on Copart in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Copart from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.43, for a total transaction of $1,118,405.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 31,527 shares in the company, valued at $1,463,798.61. This trade represents a 43.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 9.68% of the stock is 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.