Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 6,922 Shares of Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Copart, Inc. by 5.1%, purchasing an additional 6,922 shares, bringing its total holdings to 143,255 shares valued at approximately $7,030,000.
• Institutional investors own 85.78% of Copart's stock, with multiple other firms also increasing their holdings during recent quarters.
• Copart reported quarterly earnings of $0.41 per share, beating analysts' expectations, and the company's revenue saw a year-over-year increase of 2.9%.

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 143,255 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,922 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Copart were worth $7,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Copart by 92.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,215 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $816,000 after acquiring an additional 6,817 shares during the last quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Copart by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,915 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Copart by 0.9% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 307,050 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $17,376,000 after purchasing an additional 2,884 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of Copart by 13.6% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 19,767 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RDA Financial Network lifted its holdings in shares of Copart by 9.7% during the first quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 28,291 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 2,510 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 this link. Also, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 228,840 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.54, for a total value of $10,879,053.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Copart Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ CPRT opened at $45.11 on Monday. Copart, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.23 and a 12 month high of $64.38. The stock has a market cap of $43.65 billion, a PE ratio of 28.19 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's 50 day moving average is $46.97 and its 200 day moving average is $51.61.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 4th. The business services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.04. Copart had a net margin of 33.41% and a return on equity of 18.17%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CPRT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Copart in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. HSBC set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Copart and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Copart from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Copart from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price target on Copart from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Copart presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.50.

Copart Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CPRT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.