In today’s marketplace, there are tons of indicators investors can use to analyze their holdings. A duo of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top investment managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a healthy amount (see just how much).
Just as crucial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to analyze the stock market universe. Obviously, there are a number of motivations for a bullish insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if piggybackers know what to do (learn more here).
What’s more, it’s important to examine the recent info for Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT).
How have hedgies been trading Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)?
At Q2’s end, a total of 40 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 8% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.
According to our 13F database, Barry Rosenstein’s JANA Partners had the biggest position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT), worth close to $254.4 million, comprising 3.6% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Chuck Royce of Royce & Associates, with a $99.3 million position; the fund has 0.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that hold long positions include Ricky Sandler’s Eminence Capital, Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick’s First Pacific Advisors LLC and Andrew J. M. Spokes’s Farallon Capital.
Consequently, particular hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. JANA Partners, managed by Barry Rosenstein, initiated the largest position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT). JANA Partners had 254.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates also made a $99.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new CPRT positions are Ricky Sandler’s Eminence Capital, Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick’s First Pacific Advisors LLC, and Andrew J. M. Spokes’s Farallon Capital.
How are insiders trading Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)?
Insider buying made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time period, Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also review the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT). These stocks are Sonic Automotive Inc (NYSE:SAH), CarMax, Inc (NYSE:KMX), KAR Auction Services Inc (NYSE:KAR), Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG), and AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN). This group of stocks belong to the auto dealerships industry and their market caps resemble CPRT’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Sonic Automotive Inc (NYSE:SAH) | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| CarMax, Inc (NYSE:KMX) | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| KAR Auction Services Inc (NYSE:KAR) | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) | 26 | 0 | 0 |
Using the returns shown by the previously mentioned studies, average investors should always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) applies perfectly to this mantra.
