First Trust Advisors LP Sells 3,355,261 Shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its holdings in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 48.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,597,657 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,355,261 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.37% of Copart worth $206,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Copart by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 9,747 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $577,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Copart by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,007 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Everpar Advisors LLC raised its stake in Copart by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 4,811 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Copart by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 75,170 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,314,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 85.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Copart Trading Up 1.1 %

Copart stock traded up $0.69 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.10. The stock had a trading volume of 4,048,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,412,394. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $56.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.00. Copart, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.05 and a 12 month high of $64.38. The company has a market capitalization of $59.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.01 and a beta of 1.22.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Copart

In other news, Director Steven D. Cohan sold 5,003 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total value of $300,230.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director James E. Meeks sold 100,000 shares of Copart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total transaction of $5,400,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 200,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,401,000. 9.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Argus downgraded Copart from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th.

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.