Snyder Capital Management L P Boosts Stake in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Snyder Capital Management L P increased its position in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,392,234 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 55,216 shares during the period. Copart accounts for 1.7% of Snyder Capital Management L P's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Snyder Capital Management L P owned about 0.14% of Copart worth $79,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Copart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $682,089,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Copart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $253,686,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Copart by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 19,440,046 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,115,664,000 after buying an additional 3,667,534 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC raised its position in shares of Copart by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 23,463,118 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,346,548,000 after buying an additional 2,907,405 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Copart by 335.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,705,354 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $149,471,000 after buying an additional 2,084,626 shares during the period. 85.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Copart news, Director James E. Meeks sold 100,000 shares of Copart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $5,400,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven D. Cohan sold 94,997 shares of Copart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total value of $5,700,769.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 200,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,401,000 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 9.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Argus lowered shares of Copart from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th.

Copart Stock Performance

Shares of Copart stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $60.50. 966,493 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,408,176. Copart, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.05 and a 1 year high of $64.38. The stock's fifty day moving average is $56.39 and its 200 day moving average is $57.20. The firm has a market cap of $58.45 billion, a PE ratio of 40.60 and a beta of 1.22.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Copart had a net margin of 32.27% and a return on equity of 19.31%. Research analysts expect that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Copart Company 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.