Copart, Inc. $CPRT Shares Acquired by Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C.

Key Points

• Prescott Group Capital Management boosted its Copart stake by 679.7% in the fourth quarter, ending with 58,081 shares valued at about $2.27 million.
• Other institutional investors also added to Copart, and hedge funds and institutions now own 85.78% of the company’s shares.
• Copart CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares in mid-April, while analysts currently have a Hold consensus on the stock with a $44.40 average price target.

Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 679.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,081 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 50,632 shares during the period. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C.'s holdings in Copart were worth $2,274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Copart by 13.9% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 371,603 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $16,711,000 after acquiring an additional 45,346 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Copart by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 798,087 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,353,000 after acquiring an additional 31,658 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Copart by 3.2% in 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. Yacktman Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Copart during the third quarter worth $3,382,000. Finally, Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. grew its stake in shares of Copart by 7.2% during the third quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 3,181,919 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $143,091,000 after purchasing an additional 212,520 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.78% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.18, for a total value of $869,747.34. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on CPRT. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $32.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Copart in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Copart from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Copart from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Copart from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 target price on shares of Copart and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $44.40.

Copart Price Performance

Shares of CPRT opened at $33.04 on Thursday. Copart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.20 and a 1-year high of $61.66. The stock has a market cap of $31.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.29.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The business services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.03). Copart had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. Copart's revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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