North Dakota State Investment Board Buys New Stake in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new stake in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 30,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,187,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CPRT. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Copart by 298.2% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,887,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $217,243,000 after purchasing an additional 3,660,031 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 3,533,133 shares during the period. Akre Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Copart by 253.1% during 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 buying an additional 3,036,760 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Copart by 2.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,990,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,901,310,000 after buying an additional 2,581,784 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Copart by 395.6% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,499,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $112,397,000 after buying an additional 1,995,074 shares during the period. 85.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Copart Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ:CPRT opened at $33.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.36. The company has a market cap of $31.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.70 and a beta of 1.02. Copart, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.20 and a twelve month high of $63.30.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The business services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. Copart had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The business’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $32.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Copart in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Copart from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Copart from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Copart and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Copart

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of Copart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.18, for a total value of $869,747.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 79,532 shares in the company, valued at $2,638,871.76. The trade was a 24.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 9.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.