Avity Investment Management Inc. Increases Position in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Avity Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 1,182.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 241,060 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 222,260 shares during the period. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Copart were worth $6,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CPRT. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Copart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,908,980,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Copart during the 2nd quarter valued at $488,663,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Copart during the second quarter worth $436,413,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Copart in the second quarter worth $191,347,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Copart in the second quarter worth $167,000,000. 85.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 27,745 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.49, for a total value of $845,945.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 99,641 shares in the company, valued at $3,038,054.09. This represents a 21.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 9.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Copart Stock Down 0.6%

CPRT stock traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.32. 7,281,999 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,203,497. The stock has a market cap of $25.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.06. Copart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.39 and a fifty-two week high of $45.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $30.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.05.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 10th. The business services provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 15.93% and a net margin of 31.81%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Copart, Inc. will post 1.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Copart from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Copart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Freedom Broker decreased their price objective on Copart from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 14th. Freedom Capital raised Copart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, HSBC cut Copart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.80.

Copart Company Profile

Copart, Inc is a global provider of online vehicle auction and remarketing services. The company primarily sells vehicles that have been damaged, totaled, recovered from theft, or otherwise deemed uneconomical to repair. Its customers include insurance companies, automobile dealers, dismantlers, rebuilders, exporters, rental and finance companies, and members of the general public.

Copart conducts auctions through its online VB3 platform, which connects buyers with vehicles listed at the company’s facilities.