VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Purchases 205,300 Shares of Copart, Inc. $CPRT

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 205,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,601,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Copart by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 31,197 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $847,000 after acquiring an additional 3,321 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Copart by 31.5% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 27,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $743,000 after purchasing an additional 6,525 shares during the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Copart by 5.3% in the third quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 92,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,514,000 after purchasing an additional 4,618 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its stake in Copart by 26.3% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 3,784 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Dakota State Investment Board lifted its position in Copart by 1.4% during the third quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 26,664 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $727,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CPRT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barrington Research raised shares of Copart from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Freedom Broker dropped their price objective on shares of Copart from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Copart in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Copart in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Copart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Diane Morefield sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.66, for a total value of $553,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,383,000. This trade represents a 28.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.30% of the company’s stock.

Copart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CPRT opened at $30.13 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $27.91 billion, a PE ratio of 19.44, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s fifty day moving average is $29.57 and its 200 day moving average is $32.44. Copart, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.72 and a 52 week high of $43.38.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 10th. The business services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Copart had a net margin of 31.81% and a return on equity of 15.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Copart, Inc. will post 1.63 EPS for the current year.

About Copart

Copart, Inc is a provider of online vehicle auction and remarketing services. The company operates a digital marketplace that connects vehicle sellers with a broad network of buyers, including licensed dismantlers, rebuilders, used-car dealers, exporters and individual consumers.

Copart primarily sells vehicles that have been damaged, declared total losses by insurers, repossessed, donated or otherwise designated for resale. Its services also include vehicle storage, transportation, towing coordination, title processing, inspection and auction support.