Franklin Resources Inc. Has $149.47 Million Position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 335.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,705,354 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,084,626 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.28% of Copart worth $149,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Activity at Copart

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

Copart Price Performance

Shares of CPRT stock traded down $0.12 on Monday, reaching $61.11. 2,945,752 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,422,877. The stock has a market cap of $58.88 billion, a PE ratio of 43.04 and a beta of 1.31. Copart, Inc. has a one year low of $46.21 and a one year high of $64.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.12.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CPRT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Copart from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Copart from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th.

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.