Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 324,577 Shares of Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,666,075 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 324,577 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.23% of Copart worth $4,254,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CPRT. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Copart by 298.2% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,887,359 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $217,243,000 after purchasing an additional 3,660,031 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Copart by 2,266.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,689,003 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $165,895,000 after acquiring an additional 3,533,133 shares during the period. Akre Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Copart by 253.1% in the third quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 4,236,760 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $190,527,000 after acquiring an additional 3,036,760 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Copart by 395.6% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,499,370 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $112,397,000 after acquiring an additional 1,995,074 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of Copart by 25.4% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 8,777,398 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $394,720,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776,968 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Copart

In other Copart news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of Copart stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 79,532 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,638,871.76. This trade represents a 24.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 9.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Copart Price Performance

Shares of Copart stock opened at $33.19 on Tuesday. Copart, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.20 and a 1 year high of $63.85. The firm has a market cap of $31.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.74 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.46.

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

Copart Company Profile

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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