Ashford Capital Management Inc. Sells 74,681 Shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Ashford Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 13.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 479,581 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 74,681 shares during the period. Copart comprises 3.1% of Ashford Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Ashford Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Copart were worth $25,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of Copart by 141.5% in the 3rd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 512 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Copart during the third quarter worth $29,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Copart in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Copart by 98.6% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 564 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Copart by 283.3% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 575 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.78% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 83,310 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.86, for a total transaction of $5,153,556.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,601. This represents a 91.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman A Jayson Adair sold 251,423 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.79, for a total transaction of $16,038,273.17. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 14,436,557 shares in the company, valued at $920,907,971.03. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 9.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on CPRT. 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 report on Tuesday, November 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Copart from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th.

Copart Stock Performance

Copart stock traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $61.52. 3,771,231 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,443,911. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.50 and a beta of 1.31. The firm's 50 day moving average is $56.26 and its 200-day moving average is $53.81. Copart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.21 and a fifty-two week high of $64.38.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The business services provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37. Copart had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 31.92%. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. Copart's revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current 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.