Cerity Partners LLC Buys 65,522 Shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 189.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 100,037 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,522 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Copart were worth $4,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Copart during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in Copart during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. bought a new stake in Copart during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its holdings in Copart by 92.1% during the first quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 438 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new stake in Copart during the second quarter valued at about $50,000. 85.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Copart Stock Performance

NASDAQ CPRT opened at $54.38 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.93. Copart, Inc. has a one year low of $38.35 and a one year high of $58.58. The company has a market capitalization of $52.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.12 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Insider Activity at Copart

In related news, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 285,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 35,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,934,450. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Copart news, Chairman A Jayson Adair sold 600,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 19,687,980 shares in the company, valued at $1,137,374,604.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 285,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 35,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,450. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 985,000 shares of company stock valued at $55,519,950 over the last 90 days. 10.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.