Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Stake in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 58.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,296,060 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,590,706 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.45% of Copart worth $246,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sandy Spring Bank boosted its position in shares of Copart by 59.5% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 472 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Copart during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Copart in the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Copart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Copart by 88.6% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 962 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Copart Price Performance

Shares of CPRT stock opened at $57.21 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $56.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.33. The firm has a market cap of $55.27 billion, a PE ratio of 38.40 and a beta of 1.30. Copart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.05 and a 1-year high of $64.38.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. Copart had a net margin of 32.27% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Argus lowered Copart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th.

Insider Activity

In other Copart news, Director Matt Blunt sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.66, for a total transaction of $2,883,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel J. Englander sold 235,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.84, for a total transaction of $13,384,683.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 385,480 shares of company stock valued at $21,667,683. 9.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Copart 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.