Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Boosts Holdings in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its stake in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 279,167 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,771 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Copart were worth $16,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CPRT. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Copart by 2.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 38,876,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,037,130,000 after purchasing an additional 941,858 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Copart by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,157,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,789,877,000 after buying an additional 120,939 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC boosted its holdings in Copart by 0.6% in the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 20,555,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,077,119,000 after acquiring an additional 125,220 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Copart by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,763,926 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $979,547,000 after acquiring an additional 291,580 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in Copart by 0.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,042,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $316,639,000 after acquiring an additional 21,710 shares during the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Copart

In other news, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 83,310 shares of Copart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.86, for a total transaction of $5,153,556.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,601. The trade was a 91.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman A Jayson Adair sold 251,423 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.79, for a total value of $16,038,273.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 14,436,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $920,907,971.03. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 650,213 shares of company stock worth $39,199,813. 9.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Copart Stock Up 2.2 %

Copart stock opened at $58.56 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.21 and a 200-day moving average of $54.90. Copart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.92 and a 52-week high of $64.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.24 and a beta of 1.33.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The business services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal 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.