Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $2.19 Billion Stock Position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,159,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 716,827 shares during the period. Copart accounts for approximately 1.2% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Copart were worth $2,189,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Copart by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,157,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,789,877,000 after acquiring an additional 120,939 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its stake in Copart by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 20,555,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,077,119,000 after purchasing an additional 125,220 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Copart by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,763,926 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $979,547,000 after purchasing an additional 291,580 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Copart by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,042,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $316,639,000 after purchasing an additional 21,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Copart by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,267,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $276,009,000 after purchasing an additional 76,908 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Copart Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CPRT opened at $59.39 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.45. The company has a market capitalization of $57.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.82 and a beta of 1.33. Copart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.05 and a 52-week high of $64.38.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The business services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.37. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Copart had a net margin of 31.92% and a return on equity of 18.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman A Jayson Adair sold 251,423 shares of Copart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.79, for a total value of $16,038,273.17. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 14,436,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $920,907,971.03. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Diane M. Morefield sold 30,000 shares of Copart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.01, for a total transaction of $1,740,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,160,200. The trade was a 60.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 650,213 shares of company stock worth $39,199,813 over the last three months. Insiders own 9.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Copart from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th.

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.