Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 106,385 Shares of Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Key Points

• Wilkins Investment Counsel boosted its Copart stake by 125.3% in Q4, buying 106,385 shares to hold 191,295 shares valued at $7.489 million, while institutional investors overall own about 85.78% of the stock.
• Copart missed quarterly estimates (EPS $0.36 vs. $0.39; revenue $1.12B vs. $1.15B, down 3.6% YoY) and faces mixed analyst sentiment—a consensus rating of Hold with a $44.40 price target, alongside several cuts (JPMorgan to $34, Barclays to $32) and a Weiss downgrade to sell.

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 125.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 191,295 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 106,385 shares during the quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Copart were worth $7,489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Copart by 13.9% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 371,603 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $16,711,000 after buying an additional 45,346 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Copart by 3.2% in the third 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 buying an additional 1,236,101 shares during the period. Yacktman Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Copart in the third quarter valued at $3,382,000. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. raised its stake in shares of Copart by 7.2% in the third quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 3,181,919 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $143,091,000 after buying an additional 212,520 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Copart by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 798,087 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,353,000 after buying an additional 31,658 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CPRT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Copart from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $32.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Copart in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 target price on Copart and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered Copart from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Copart from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $44.40.

Copart Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CPRT opened at $33.26 on Friday. Copart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.20 and a 52-week high of $63.85. The firm has a market cap of $32.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.78 and a beta of 1.02. The business's fifty day moving average is $34.31 and its 200 day moving average is $38.27.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Copart news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.18, for a total value of $869,747.34. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 79,532 shares in the company, valued at $2,638,871.76. This represents a 24.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 9.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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