Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 99.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 117,954 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Copart were worth $54,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Copart during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Atticus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Copart during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Copart by 1,063.0% in the 2nd quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 628 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Copart in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust lifted its position in Copart by 83.8% during the second quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 735 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.07, for a total value of $3,907,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.60% of the company’s stock.

Copart Stock Performance

Shares of CPRT opened at $41.25 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $39.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.94. Copart, Inc. has a one year low of $37.41 and a one year high of $63.85. The stock has a market cap of $39.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.15 and a beta of 1.10.

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