370,090 Shares in Copart, Inc. $CPRT Bought by Clarkston Capital Partners LLC

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 370,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $14,489,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CPRT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Copart in the fourth quarter worth $569,569,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Copart by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 27,728,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,085,588,000 after buying an additional 5,555,101 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Copart in the fourth quarter worth $195,637,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Copart by 94.0% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,955,661 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $389,764,000 after buying an additional 4,823,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Copart by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,982,589 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $860,618,000 after buying an additional 3,918,610 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 26,213 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,638,871.76. This trade represents a 24.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CPRT shares. Zacks Research upgraded Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 price objective on Copart and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Copart in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Copart from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $45.00 price target on Copart in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Copart presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Copart Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ CPRT opened at $30.75 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.20. Copart, Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.97 and a twelve month high of $50.11. The company has a market capitalization of $28.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The business services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.02. Copart had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 33.48%.The business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Copart, Inc. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Copart

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.