Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,159,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 716,827 shares during the period. Copart comprises approximately 1.2% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 3.96% of Copart worth $2,189,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CPRT. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Copart during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Copart during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Copart during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in Copart by 1,737.1% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 643 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Copart during the 4th quarter worth $54,000. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Copart Stock Down 0.7 %

CPRT stock opened at $59.39 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $58.29 and its 200-day moving average is $55.45. The company has a market cap of $57.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.82 and a beta of 1.33. Copart, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.05 and a twelve month high of $64.38.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The business services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 31.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Daniel J. Englander sold 235,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.84, for a total value of $13,384,683.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman A Jayson Adair sold 251,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.79, for a total transaction of $16,038,273.17. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 14,436,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $920,907,971.03. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 650,213 shares of company stock valued at $39,199,813 in the last 90 days. 9.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Copart from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th.

About Copart

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.