First Trust Advisors LP Trims Stock Holdings in 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 its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm 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 approximately 0.37% of Copart worth $206,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital International Ltd. CA increased its stake in Copart by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 256,272 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $14,707,000 after purchasing an additional 4,304 shares in the last quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. boosted its position in shares of Copart by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. now owns 55,579 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,190,000 after buying an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Sarl grew its stake in Copart by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 372,115 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $21,356,000 after acquiring an additional 27,624 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in Copart by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 1,170,777 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $67,153,000 after acquiring an additional 15,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Copart by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 442,564 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,399,000 after purchasing an additional 35,056 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Copart Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ CPRT traded down $1.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $60.84. 1,397,134 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,403,616. The company has a market capitalization of $58.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.79 and a beta of 1.22. Copart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.05 and a 52-week high of $64.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $56.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.09.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. Copart had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 32.27%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.13 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Copart news, Director James E. Meeks sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $5,400,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven D. Cohan sold 5,003 shares of the firm's 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 200,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,401,000 in the last 90 days. 9.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.