Copart, Inc. $CPRT Shares Bought by Royal Bank of Canada

Key Points

• The Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Copart, Inc. by 3.7% in the first quarter, owning a total of 6,380,881 shares valued at $361 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Nuveen LLC and Fiera Capital Corp, have also made significant investments in Copart, with institutional investors owning 85.78% of its stock.
• Copart's stock has a current market cap of $47.20 billion, with analysts issuing mixed ratings and target prices, reflecting varying outlooks on the company's future performance.

Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,380,881 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 229,843 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.66% of Copart worth $361,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Copart during the first quarter worth approximately $604,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Copart by 52.2% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 23,862 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,350,000 after buying an additional 8,181 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 297,210 shares during the period. 111 Capital purchased a new stake in Copart during the fourth quarter worth $967,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in Copart by 16.5% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 4,142 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the period. 85.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 31,527 shares in the company, valued at $1,463,798.61. This trade represents a 43.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.68% of the company's stock.

Copart Trading Down 2.8%

CPRT traded down $1.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $48.57. 17,581,478 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,791,993. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $47.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.95 and a beta of 1.03. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The business services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 32.21%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. HSBC set a $62.00 target price on Copart and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Copart from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Stephens reduced their price target on Copart from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.