Lazard Asset Management LLC Acquires 27,301 Shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 852.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,505 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 27,301 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Copart were worth $1,750,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Copart by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 9,747 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Copart by 59.5% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 472 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Copart by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,007 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in Copart by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 75,170 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,314,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simmons Bank boosted its position in Copart by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 4,728 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Copart news, Director James E. Meeks sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $5,400,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Steven D. Cohan sold 94,997 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total transaction of $5,700,769.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 200,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,401,000. Insiders own 9.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on CPRT shares. Argus lowered shares of Copart from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Copart from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday.

Copart Stock Down 11.5%

NASDAQ:CPRT traded down $6.99 on Friday, reaching $53.67. The stock had a trading volume of 20,806,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,519,197. The company has a market capitalization of $51.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.02 and a beta of 1.20. Copart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.05 and a 1-year high of $64.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $58.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.26.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42. Copart had a net margin of 32.27% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.