LPL Financial LLC Acquires 109,734 Shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Copart, Inc. by 18.6% in Q1, holding 701,132 shares valued at approximately $39.7 million.
• Recent analyst reports have lowered price targets for Copart, with JPMorgan reducing its target from $60 to $55 and Robert W. Baird from $64 to $55.
• Copart's CEO sold 24,088 shares at an average price of $46.43, decreasing their ownership by 43.31% to about 31,527 shares.

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 18.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 701,132 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 109,734 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.07% of Copart worth $39,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in Copart by 289.6% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 25,512 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Copart in the 1st quarter worth $604,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position 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 shares of Copart in the fourth quarter worth about $1,314,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Copart by 53.3% during the first quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 854,336 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,347,000 after purchasing an additional 297,210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.78% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Copart

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.43, for a total value of $1,118,405.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 31,527 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,463,798.61. This trade represents a 43.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CPRT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Copart from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Copart from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on Copart in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company.

Copart Stock Performance

CPRT stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $45.74. 5,246,862 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,701,871. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $48.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.09 and a beta of 1.04. Copart, Inc. has a one year low of $45.05 and a one year high of $64.38.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 32.21%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect 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.