First Trust Advisors LP Increases Stock Position in Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Copart by 18.5% in Q3, buying 1,216,799 shares to hold 7,796,203 shares (≈0.81%) valued at about $350.6 million.
• Other major institutions—including Vanguard, Norges Bank, Fiera, Jensen and Dimensional—also added shares, leaving total institutional ownership at roughly 85.78%.
• Copart recently missed the quarter (EPS $0.36 vs. $0.39 est.; revenue $1.12B vs. $1.15B), trades around $37.72 with a $36.34B market cap, insiders own 9.6% after CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold shares, and analysts' consensus is a Hold with a $44.40 average target.

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 18.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,796,203 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,216,799 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.81% of Copart worth $350,595,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Copart during the second quarter worth $549,448,000. Fiera Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of Copart by 75.3% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 7,000,430 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $343,511,000 after purchasing an additional 3,007,820 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Copart by 2.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,990,652 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,901,310,000 after buying an additional 2,581,784 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Copart by 39.4% in the second quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,315,861 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $260,849,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503,771 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Copart by 39.1% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,705,613 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $211,608,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323,281 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.78% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Copart news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 25,137 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.17, for a total transaction of $1,009,753.29. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,970 shares in the company, valued at $2,248,314.90. This trade represents a 30.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Copart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CPRT opened at $37.72 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $39.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.58 and a beta of 1.09. Copart, Inc. has a one year low of $33.81 and a one year high of $63.85.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The business services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.03). Copart had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 33.76%.The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CPRT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. CJS Securities raised shares of Copart to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $48.00 price target on shares of Copart and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Copart from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $32.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Copart in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Copart from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $44.40.

About Copart

Copart NASDAQ: CPRT is a global provider of online vehicle auction and remarketing services, focused primarily on the sale of salvage and clean-title vehicles. The company operates a technology-driven auction platform that connects sellers — including insurance companies, vehicle finance firms, rental car companies, dealerships and fleet owners — with a broad buyer base consisting of vehicle dismantlers, recyclers, rebuilders and retail buyers. Copart's business model centers on efficient vehicle disposition using digital bidding and logistics services to maximize recovery value for its clients.

Core services include hosting live and timed online auctions, vehicle listing and inspection support, title processing, and transportation and storage solutions.

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