Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has increased its stake in Copart, Inc. by 2.1%, owning approximately 10.79% of the company, which is valued at about $5.9 billion.
• CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares of Copart, representing a 43.31% decrease in his position, with the shares sold at an average price of $46.43.
• Copart recently reported quarterly revenue of $1.21 billion, slightly below analysts' expectations, but showed a 7.5% increase compared to the same period last year.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 104,263,922 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,134,890 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.79% of Copart worth $5,900,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Copart during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Copart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Copart in the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Copart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Copart by 1,567.9% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 884 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 831 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.78% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.43, for a total value of $1,118,405.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 31,527 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,463,798.61. The trade was a 43.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 9.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Copart Stock Performance

Shares of Copart stock traded up $0.08 on Friday, hitting $46.19. 4,456,258 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,234,819. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.66 billion, a PE ratio of 30.39 and a beta of 1.04. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. Copart had a net margin of 32.21% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The company's revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CPRT has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Copart in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Copart from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, 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.

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.