Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Purchases 645 Shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 645 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Copart were worth $2,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its stake in shares of Copart by 141.5% in the 3rd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 512 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Copart in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Copart in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Copart by 283.3% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 575 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Copart during the third quarter worth about $33,000. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Copart Stock Performance

Shares of CPRT opened at $55.63 on Tuesday. Copart, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.31 and a 52 week high of $64.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.18 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $58.96 and a 200-day moving average of $54.65.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The business services provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.37. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 31.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Copart from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Daniel J. Englander sold 235,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.84, for a total transaction of $13,384,683.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Matt Blunt sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.66, for a total transaction of $2,883,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 650,213 shares of company stock worth $39,199,813 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 9.68% of the company’s stock.

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.