State of Michigan Retirement System Grows Holdings in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Key Points

• State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its Copart stake by 13.4%, buying 52,000 shares to hold 439,408 shares worth about $17.2 million at quarter-end.
• Institutional investors own 85.78% of Copart, with large positions held by Vanguard, Principal, State Street and Invesco, indicating heavy institutional exposure.
• Analysts are mixed — the consensus is a Hold with an average target of $44.40 — while Copart recently missed EPS and revenue estimates, the CEO sold ~26,213 shares, and the stock trades near $33, close to its one‑year low.

State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 13.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 439,408 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 52,000 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System's holdings in Copart were worth $17,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Copart by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,990,652 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,901,310,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581,784 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Copart by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 40,175,058 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,806,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236,101 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Copart by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,062,931 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,666,720,000 after buying an additional 656,428 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Copart by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,931,871 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $491,606,000 after buying an additional 771,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Copart by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,931,216 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $401,637,000 after buying an additional 97,411 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CPRT shares. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $32.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Copart in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Copart and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Copart from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Copart from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Copart in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Copart currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $44.40.

Insider Activity at Copart

In other Copart news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.18, for a total transaction of $869,747.34. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 79,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,638,871.76. The trade was a 24.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.60% of the company's stock.

Copart Stock Performance

Copart stock opened at $33.19 on Tuesday. Copart, Inc. has a one year low of $32.20 and a one year high of $63.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.46. The company has a market cap of $31.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.74 and a beta of 1.14.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The business services provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 33.76%.Copart's revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

About Copart

Copart NASDAQ: CPRT is a global provider of online vehicle auction and remarketing services, focused primarily on the sale of salvage and clean-title vehicles. The company operates a technology-driven auction platform that connects sellers — including insurance companies, vehicle finance firms, rental car companies, dealerships and fleet owners — with a broad buyer base consisting of vehicle dismantlers, recyclers, rebuilders and retail buyers. Copart's business model centers on efficient vehicle disposition using digital bidding and logistics services to maximize recovery value for its clients.

Core services include hosting live and timed online auctions, vehicle listing and inspection support, title processing, and transportation and storage solutions.

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