Geneva Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Key Points

• Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Copart, Inc. by 1.8% during the first quarter, now owning approximately $52.1 million worth of shares.
• Analysts have adjusted price targets for Copart, with JPMorgan dropping its target from $60 to $55, while Robert W. Baird also lowered its target to $55 but maintained an "outperform" rating.
• CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares at an average price of $46.43, reducing his ownership stake in the company by 43.31% to about $1.46 million.

Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 921,274 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,209 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC owned 0.10% of Copart worth $52,135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in Copart by 289.6% in the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 34,322 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,970,000 after buying an additional 25,512 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Copart during the first quarter valued at $604,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Copart by 52.2% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 23,862 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,350,000 after acquiring an additional 8,181 shares in the last quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Copart during the 4th quarter worth about $1,314,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Copart by 53.3% during the 1st quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 854,336 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $48,347,000 after purchasing an additional 297,210 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares of the company'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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.68% of the company's stock.

Copart Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Copart stock traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $47.11. 6,570,382 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,438,789. The business has a fifty day moving average of $48.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.44. The company has a market capitalization of $45.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.99 and a beta of 1.04. Copart, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.05 and a 1 year high of $64.38.

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. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Copart had a net margin of 32.21% and a return on equity of 18.20%. Copart's revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

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.