Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 5,800 Shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Copart, Inc. by 12.5% in the first quarter, resulting in ownership of 40,777 shares valued at approximately $2.3 million.
• Analysts have recently issued new price targets for Copart, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowering their target from $60 to $55 and Stephens setting a target of $50.
• Insider trading was noted as CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares at an average price of $46.43, decreasing his position in the company by 43.31%.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its position in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 12.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,777 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,800 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Copart were worth $2,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Copart in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Copart in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Copart in the first quarter worth $36,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Copart during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Copart by 1,567.9% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 884 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 831 shares during the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Copart Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CPRT traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $46.69. The company had a trading volume of 5,514,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,700,750. Copart, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.05 and a twelve month high of $64.38. The stock's 50 day moving average is $47.88 and its 200-day moving average is $54.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.15 billion, a PE ratio of 30.72 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 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42. Copart had a net margin of 32.21% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on CPRT. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Copart from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Copart from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Stephens started coverage on shares of Copart in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company.

Insider Activity at Copart

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company 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.