Great West Life Assurance Co. Can Acquires 77,094 Shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its holdings in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 17.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 529,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 77,094 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can owned 0.11% of Copart worth $48,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CPRT. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Copart by 945.2% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 85,828 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,821,000 after purchasing an additional 77,616 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Copart by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 390,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,624,000 after acquiring an additional 49,516 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in Copart by 742.9% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 118,906 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,943,000 after acquiring an additional 104,800 shares during the last quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Copart in the first quarter worth $223,000. Finally, AXS Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Copart during the second quarter valued at $902,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CPRT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus began coverage on shares of Copart in a report on Friday, September 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Copart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Copart from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Copart from $39.50 to $41.00 in a report on Monday, September 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Matt Blunt sold 49,435 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.11, for a total value of $2,131,142.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Matt Blunt sold 49,435 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.11, for a total value of $2,131,142.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen Fisher sold 160,000 shares of Copart stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.69, for a total value of $7,310,400.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 10.23% of the company’s stock.

Copart Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CPRT opened at $50.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.39 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.57. Copart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.61 and a fifty-two week high of $51.53.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The business services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $987.90 million. Copart had a return on equity of 22.46% and a net margin of 31.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Copart, Inc. will post 1.42 EPS for the current year.

About Copart

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.