Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 2,877,981 Shares of Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 81.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 665,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,877,981 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.07% of Copart worth $22,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in Copart by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,555,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,470,295,000 after purchasing an additional 492,506 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Copart by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 27,728,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,085,588,000 after purchasing an additional 5,555,101 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Copart by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,255,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $906,836,000 after purchasing an additional 131,703 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Copart by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,982,589 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $860,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,918,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Copart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $569,569,000. 85.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Copart news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.18, for a total value of $869,747.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 79,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,638,871.76. This trade represents a 24.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.60% of the company’s stock.

Copart Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of CPRT opened at $28.79 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.35. Copart, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.84 and a twelve month high of $50.11. The company has a market cap of $26.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.88 and a beta of 1.03.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The business services provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 33.48%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Copart, Inc. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CPRT shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Copart in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Freedom Capital raised Copart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered Copart from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

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.