Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 2,084,626 Shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 335.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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 approximately 0.28% of Copart worth $149,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Copart by 6.5% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 104,650 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,484,000 after acquiring an additional 6,385 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Copart by 7.8% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 88,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,628,000 after acquiring an additional 6,421 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Copart in the third quarter valued at about $317,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Copart by 21.2% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 52,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,765,000 after buying an additional 9,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Second Line Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Copart by 11.2% in the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 52,619 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,757,000 after buying an additional 5,284 shares during the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CPRT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Copart from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Copart from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th.

Copart Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of CPRT stock opened at $61.23 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $59.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.12 and a beta of 1.31. Copart, Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.21 and a 12 month high of $64.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $57.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.06.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The business services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.37. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 31.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Copart

In related news, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 83,310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $485,601. The trade was a 91.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman A Jayson Adair sold 251,423 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,436,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $920,907,971.03. This 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.

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.