Copart, Inc. $CPRT Stake Lowered by Candriam S.C.A.

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. reduced its stake in Copart, Inc. by 11.1%, leaving it with approximately 48,538 shares valued at about $2.75 million.
• Analysts have lowered price targets for Copart, with JPMorgan Chase and Robert W. Baird both reducing their targets to $55.00, while the consensus rating is currently a "Hold."
• Copart reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.42, matching analysts' expectations, and revealed a revenue of $1.21 billion, slightly below forecasts.

Candriam S.C.A. reduced its stake in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 11.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,538 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 6,071 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.'s holdings in Copart were worth $2,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Copart during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Copart during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Copart during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SouthState Corp bought a new stake in Copart in the first quarter worth $45,000. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Copart Price Performance

CPRT stock opened at $48.96 on Friday. Copart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.05 and a 52-week high of $64.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $47.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.21 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Insider Activity at Copart

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were 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 owned 31,527 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,463,798.61. This represents a 43.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.68% of the company's stock.

About Copart

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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