Madison Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Madison Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,889,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 182,775 shares during the quarter. Copart accounts for approximately 1.6% of Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Copart were worth $129,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Copart by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,555,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,470,295,000 after purchasing an additional 492,506 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Copart by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 27,728,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,085,588,000 after buying an additional 5,555,101 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Copart by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,255,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $906,836,000 after buying an additional 131,703 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 3,918,610 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Copart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $569,569,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CPRT shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Copart from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $45.00 target price on Copart in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Copart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Copart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

Copart Price Performance

Shares of CPRT stock opened at $27.49 on Tuesday. Copart, Inc. has a one year low of $27.18 and a one year high of $50.11. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $30.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.36. The company has a market capitalization of $25.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07 and a beta of 1.02.

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

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.