Sit Investment Associates Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Sit Investment Associates Inc. lowered its position in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 46.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 40,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 35,575 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Copart were worth $1,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Copart by 564.8% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,523,773 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $98,806,000 after acquiring an additional 2,144,147 shares in the last quarter. Copos Capital S.a r.l. acquired a new stake in shares of Copart during the 4th quarter worth about $459,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Copart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its stake in Copart by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 5,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Copart by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,586,115 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $453,596,000 after purchasing an additional 654,244 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Copart

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

Copart Price Performance

NASDAQ:CPRT opened at $30.23 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $32.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.90. The company has a market capitalization of $27.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78 and a beta of 1.00. Copart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.46 and a 52-week high of $50.11.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Copart from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Copart in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Copart from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $32.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Copart in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Two 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Copart 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.