Sovran Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Sovran Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,420 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,135 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC’s holdings in Copart were worth $991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP raised its holdings in Copart by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 2,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Copart by 13.1% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Copart by 4.0% in the first quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,985 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. increased its stake in Copart by 5.0% in the first quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 4,108 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, FSM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Copart by 4.9% in the first quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,649 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Copart Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of Copart stock opened at $45.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $43.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.41 and a beta of 1.03. Copart, Inc. has a 12 month low of $45.05 and a 12 month high of $64.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $47.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.26.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 4th. The business services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.04. Copart had a return on equity of 18.17% and a net margin of 33.41%.The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for 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. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. HSBC set a $62.00 target price on Copart and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Copart from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Copart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Copart from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Stephens reduced their target price on Copart from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.50.

Insider Transactions at Copart

In related news, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 228,840 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.54, for a total transaction of $10,879,053.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 31,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,463,798.61. The trade was a 43.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Copart

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.