First Merchants Corp Has $6.29 Million Stock Position in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

First Merchants Corp lifted its stake in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 128,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,121 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Copart were worth $6,293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CPRT. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Copart by 92.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,215 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $816,000 after acquiring an additional 6,817 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in Copart by 5.9% during the first quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 4,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Copart by 21.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 20,352 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,152,000 after buying an additional 3,598 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its position in Copart by 4.5% during the first quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 54,877 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,105,000 after buying an additional 2,339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Copart by 1.9% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 59,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,371,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Copart Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:CPRT opened at $44.93 on Thursday. Copart, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.12 and a 12-month high of $64.38. The stock has a market cap of $43.48 billion, a PE ratio of 28.08 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $46.86 and a 200-day moving average of $51.45.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 4th. The business services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 18.17% and a net margin of 33.41%.The business’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CPRT. Stephens lowered their price target on Copart from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Hsbc Global Res raised Copart from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Copart in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Copart from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, HSBC set a $62.00 price objective on Copart and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Copart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.50.

Insider Activity at Copart

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.43, for a total value of $1,118,405.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 31,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,463,798.61. The trade was a 43.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 228,840 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.54, for a total value of $10,879,053.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 9.68% of the company’s stock.

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.