Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 7,356,083 Shares of Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group cut its Copart stake by 18.9% in Q1, selling 7,356,083 shares and leaving it with 31,637,307 shares worth about $1.05 billion.
• Copart CEO Jeffrey Liaw also sold shares, unloading 26,213 shares at an average price of $33.18 in mid-April.
• Copart reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.43 versus $0.41 expected and revenue of $1.24 billion, while analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with a consensus target price of $44.50.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 18.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,637,307 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 7,356,083 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 3.28% of Copart worth $1,050,359,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Copart during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Cache Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Copart in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Aventura Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Copart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Copart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Copart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Copart

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 26,213 shares of Copart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.18, for a total transaction of $869,747.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 79,532 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,638,871.76. The trade was a 24.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 9.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Copart Stock Down 0.3%

Copart stock opened at $27.44 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $31.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.77. The firm has a market cap of $25.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04 and a beta of 1.02. Copart, Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.29 and a 52 week high of $50.11.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The business services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.02. Copart had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 33.48%.The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. Copart's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Copart, Inc. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Copart from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Copart from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Freedom Capital upgraded Copart to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $45.00 price objective on Copart in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.50.

Copart Profile

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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