Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Buys 25,665 Shares of Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 33.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,665 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Copart were worth $4,572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Copart during the 2nd quarter valued at $549,448,000. Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in Copart by 75.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 7,000,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $343,511,000 after buying an additional 3,007,820 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Copart by 75.2% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,579,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $322,851,000 after acquiring an additional 2,824,991 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Copart by 56.4% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,407,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $314,415,000 after acquiring an additional 2,310,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Copart by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 106,408,868 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,221,483,000 after acquiring an additional 2,144,946 shares during the period. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Copart

In other Copart news, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.07, for a total transaction of $3,907,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,283 shares of Copart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.79, for a total transaction of $1,087,635.57. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 31,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,403,360.28. The trade was a 43.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 9.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on CPRT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Copart from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 24th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Copart from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 21st. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $33.00 target price (up previously from $32.00) on shares of Copart in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Copart in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, CJS Securities upgraded shares of Copart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Copart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.60.

Copart Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of CPRT opened at $39.83 on Friday. Copart, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.41 and a twelve month high of $63.85. The company has a market cap of $38.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.29 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.13.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The business services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 17.78% and a net margin of 34.24%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Copart

Copart (NASDAQ: CPRT) is a global provider of online vehicle auction and remarketing services, focused primarily on the sale of salvage and clean-title vehicles. The company operates a technology-driven auction platform that connects sellers — including insurance companies, vehicle finance firms, rental car companies, dealerships and fleet owners — with a broad buyer base consisting of vehicle dismantlers, recyclers, rebuilders and retail buyers. Copart’s business model centers on efficient vehicle disposition using digital bidding and logistics services to maximize recovery value for its clients.

Core services include hosting live and timed online auctions, vehicle listing and inspection support, title processing, and transportation and storage solutions.