Avenir Corp Cuts Position in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Key Points

• Avenir Corp reduced its stake in Copart, Inc. by 1.5%, now holding 1,127,823 shares, which makes up 6.7% of its investment portfolio.
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has lowered its price target for Copart from $60.00 to $55.00, while Robert W. Baird also reduced their target to $55.00, indicating a cautious outlook on the stock.
• Copart's CEO, Jeffrey Liaw, sold 24,088 shares valued at over $1.1 million, significantly reducing his position in the company.

Avenir Corp lessened its stake in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,127,823 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 17,125 shares during the quarter. Copart comprises about 6.7% of Avenir Corp's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Avenir Corp owned approximately 0.12% of Copart worth $63,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Copart by 2.1% in 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. boosted its stake 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 valued at $2,230,177,000 after buying an additional 1,249,687 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake 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 valued at $868,417,000 after buying an additional 2,106,656 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake 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 valued at $537,052,000 after buying an additional 658,329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Copart by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,927,156 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $505,188,000 after buying an additional 61,855 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company's stock.

Copart Price Performance

CPRT traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $48.81. 5,330,175 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,555,510. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.18. Copart, Inc. has a 12 month low of $45.05 and a 12 month high of $64.38. The stock has a market cap of $47.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11 and a beta of 1.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CPRT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Copart from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Copart from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Copart in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.33.

Insider Transactions at Copart

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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.