Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Grows Holdings in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 100,589 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,528 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Copart were worth $5,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jensen Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Copart by 2,466.0% during the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,536,233 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $185,299,000 after purchasing an additional 3,398,423 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Copart by 462.8% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,668,696 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $192,240,000 after acquiring an additional 3,016,795 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Copart by 335.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,705,354 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $149,471,000 after purchasing an additional 2,084,626 shares during the period. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. raised its stake in shares of Copart by 706.6% in the third quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 1,586,886 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $83,153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,390,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in shares of Copart by 1,103.1% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,062,931 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $55,698,000 after acquiring an additional 974,585 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.78% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Copart

In other Copart news, Chairman A Jayson Adair sold 251,423 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.79, for a total value of $16,038,273.17. Following the sale, the chairman now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 83,310 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 7,850 shares in the company, valued at $485,601. This represents a 91.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 650,213 shares of company stock worth $39,199,813. Insiders own 9.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Copart from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th.

Copart Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of CPRT stock traded down $0.21 on Wednesday, hitting $59.02. The stock had a trading volume of 3,507,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,332,394. The firm has a market cap of $56.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.56 and a beta of 1.33. Copart, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.05 and a twelve month high of $64.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.29.

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

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.