Flaharty Asset Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 940 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $53,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CPRT. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Copart in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $604,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Copart by 52.2% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 23,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,350,000 after buying an additional 8,181 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Copart by 53.3% in the 1st quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 854,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,347,000 after acquiring an additional 297,210 shares during the last quarter. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Copart during the 4th quarter valued at $967,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Copart by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 4,142 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares of Copart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.43, for a total transaction of $1,118,405.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 31,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,463,798.61. This trade represents a 43.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 9.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Copart Price Performance

Copart stock opened at $48.52 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $47.42 and its 200 day moving average is $52.61. Copart, Inc. has a one year low of $45.05 and a one year high of $64.38. The firm has a market cap of $46.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.33 and a beta of 1.03.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The business services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Copart had a net margin of 33.41% and a return on equity of 18.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CPRT. Stephens lowered their target price on Copart from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 5th. Hsbc Global Res raised Copart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Copart from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Copart from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, HSBC set a $62.00 price target on shares of Copart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.50.

Copart Profile

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.