Securian Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Securian Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 43.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 24,211 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 18,750 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Copart were worth $948,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Copart by 298.2% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,887,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $217,243,000 after buying an additional 3,660,031 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Copart by 2,266.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,689,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $165,895,000 after acquiring an additional 3,533,133 shares during the period. Akre Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 worth $190,527,000 after acquiring an additional 3,036,760 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Copart by 2.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,990,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,901,310,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581,784 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Copart from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Copart and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $32.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Copart in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Copart from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Copart presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Copart news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.18, for a total transaction of $869,747.34. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 79,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,638,871.76. This represents a 24.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 9.60% of the company’s stock.

Copart Stock Down 1.5%

Copart stock opened at $32.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59 and a beta of 1.02. Copart, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.20 and a 52 week high of $63.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.67.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last announced its earnings results 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). Copart had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 33.76%.The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Copart, Inc. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal 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.