Van ECK Associates Corp Decreases Stock Position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 159,459 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 6,206 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Copart were worth $9,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Copart by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 38,876,517 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,037,130,000 after purchasing an additional 941,858 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Copart by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,157,967 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,789,877,000 after purchasing an additional 120,939 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC grew its position in Copart by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 20,555,713 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,077,119,000 after purchasing an additional 125,220 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Copart by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,763,926 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $979,547,000 after purchasing an additional 291,580 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in Copart by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,042,734 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $316,639,000 after purchasing an additional 21,710 shares during the period. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Copart Stock Performance

Shares of CPRT stock traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $59.74. 3,637,497 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,311,460. Copart, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.05 and a 12 month high of $64.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $58.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.56 billion, a PE ratio of 42.07 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Diane M. Morefield sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.01, for a total value of $1,740,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,160,200. This represents a 60.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 83,310 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 7,850 shares of the company's stock, valued at $485,601. This represents a 91.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 650,213 shares of company stock valued at $39,199,813 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 9.68% of the company's stock.

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.