Magnetar Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atticus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Copart during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Copart during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Copart by 1,063.0% in the 2nd quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 628 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the period. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Copart in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust raised its position in shares of Copart by 83.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 735 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Copart news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,283 shares of Copart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.79, for a total transaction of $1,087,635.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 31,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,403,360.28. The trade was a 43.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 228,840 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.54, for a total value of $10,879,053.60. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 353,123 shares of company stock valued at $15,873,689 in the last 90 days. 9.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Copart Stock Down 0.8%

CPRT stock opened at $38.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.50 billion, a PE ratio of 24.22 and a beta of 1.06. Copart, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.67 and a 52 week high of $64.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $43.27 and a 200 day moving average of $47.40.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The business services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. Copart had a net margin of 33.41% and a return on equity of 18.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CPRT has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Copart from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Copart in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Copart from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (up from $32.00) on shares of Copart in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Copart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.60.

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.