Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Makes New Investment in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new position in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 19,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $555,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Copart during the second quarter worth about $1,908,980,000. State Street Corp grew its position 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 valued at $1,470,295,000 after purchasing an additional 492,506 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Copart by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 27,728,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,085,588,000 after purchasing an additional 5,555,101 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Copart by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,255,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $906,836,000 after purchasing an additional 131,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Copart by 21.7% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 3,918,610 shares in the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Copart

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 27,745 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.49, for a total transaction of $845,945.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 99,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,038,054.09. This trade represents a 21.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 9.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $45.00 price target on shares of Copart in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Copart from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Copart and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Freedom Capital raised shares of Copart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Copart in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Copart Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CPRT opened at $33.85 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.74. Copart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.81 and a 52-week high of $50.11. The company has a market cap of $31.34 billion, a PE ratio of 21.02 and a beta of 1.01.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The business services provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict 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.