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

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 18.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund 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’s holdings in Copart were worth $350,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CPRT. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Copart by 92.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,215 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $816,000 after buying an additional 6,817 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Copart by 365.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 878 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Copart by 8.9% in the second quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 315,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,429,000 after buying an additional 25,681 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden lifted its stake in shares of Copart by 642.4% in the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 171,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,416,000 after acquiring an additional 148,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Yale Capital Corp. lifted its stake in shares of Copart by 17.4% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 27,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,354,000 after acquiring an additional 4,095 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Copart

In other Copart news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 25,137 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.17, for a total value of $1,009,753.29. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Copart Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Copart stock opened at $37.72 on Friday. Copart, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.81 and a 12-month high of $63.85. The company has a market cap of $36.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.58 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.92.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The business services provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 33.76%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.