Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 193,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,078 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Copart were worth $9,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Copart by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 151,836 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,737 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Copart by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 148,395 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,271,000 after purchasing an additional 2,375 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Copart by 71.8% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,482 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,739,000 after purchasing an additional 14,830 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its position in Copart by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 16,885 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 1,752 shares during the period. Finally, Prosperitas Financial LLC lifted its position in Copart by 253.8% during the fourth quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC now owns 31,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after purchasing an additional 22,659 shares during the period. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Copart

In other news, Chairman A Jayson Adair sold 600,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.77, for a total transaction of $34,662,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 19,687,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,137,374,604.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 285,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $15,751,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 35,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,934,450. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman A Jayson Adair sold 600,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.77, for a total transaction of $34,662,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 19,687,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,137,374,604.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 985,000 shares of company stock valued at $55,519,950 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 10.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CPRT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Copart from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Copart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.00.

Copart Stock Performance

CPRT opened at $53.20 on Friday. Copart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.35 and a fifty-two week high of $58.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $54.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.27 and a beta of 1.22.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 21.55% and a net margin of 33.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Copart, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Copart Company Profile

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.