TCW Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

TCW Group Inc. grew its stake in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 284.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,947 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,998 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Copart were worth $2,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Navellier & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Copart by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 26,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,537,000 after buying an additional 6,269 shares during the period. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Copart during the fourth quarter worth about $304,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Copart by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $787,000 after buying an additional 2,322 shares during the period. Suncoast Equity Management lifted its position in Copart by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Suncoast Equity Management now owns 30,220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,734,000 after buying an additional 2,230 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Financial Mangement LLC lifted its position in Copart by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 2,001,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $114,843,000 after buying an additional 11,106 shares during the period. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Daniel J. Englander sold 235,480 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.84, for a total value of $13,384,683.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 83,310 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 7,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,601. This trade represents a 91.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 398,790 shares of company stock worth $23,161,540. 9.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Copart Price Performance

Copart stock opened at $56.75 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $57.89 and its 200-day moving average is $55.78. The company has a market cap of $54.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.09 and a beta of 1.33. Copart, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.05 and a 12 month high of $64.38.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 32.27%. Research analysts anticipate that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.