The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Reduces Stock Holdings in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its position in Copart, Inc. by 2.4%, now holding 518,485 shares valued at approximately $29.34 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own about 85.78% of Copart's stock, with significant investments from firms like Nuveen LLC and Vanguard Group Inc.
• Analyst ratings for Copart show a consensus rating of "Hold" with a target price averaging $53.33, indicating a cautious outlook on the stock's performance.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 518,485 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 12,856 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.05% of Copart worth $29,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Copart by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,263,922 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,900,295,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,890 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Copart by 3.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,409,377 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,230,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249,687 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Copart by 15.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,345,768 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $868,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,106,656 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Copart by 7.5% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,490,237 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $537,052,000 after acquiring an additional 658,329 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Copart by 0.7% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,927,156 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $505,188,000 after acquiring an additional 61,855 shares during the period. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Copart news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.43, for a total value 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 approximately $1,463,798.61. This trade represents a 43.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CPRT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Copart from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Stephens decreased their price objective on Copart from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. HSBC set a $62.00 price target on Copart and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res raised Copart from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Copart from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.50.

Copart Stock Performance

Copart stock traded down $1.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $48.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,581,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,525,177. Copart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.05 and a fifty-two week high of $64.38. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $47.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.96 billion, a PE ratio of 30.36 and a beta of 1.03.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The business services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.04. Copart had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 33.41%.The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. Copart's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current 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.