Principal Securities Inc. Invests $2.01 Million in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 41,077 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,013,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. National Pension Service grew its position in Copart by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,483,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $72,692,000 after acquiring an additional 20,820 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its holdings in Copart by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 447,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,929,000 after buying an additional 59,735 shares during the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Copart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $376,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Copart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Finally, Sawgrass Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Copart by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 160,712 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,875,000 after acquiring an additional 38,946 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Copart Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:CPRT traded down $0.52 on Friday, hitting $54.74. The stock had a trading volume of 3,899,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,871,311. The company has a market cap of $52.63 billion, a PE ratio of 39.38 and a beta of 1.22. Copart, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.84 and a 52 week high of $58.58. The business’s fifty day moving average is $55.63 and its 200 day moving average is $51.09.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.02). Copart had a net margin of 33.41% and a return on equity of 21.55%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Copart, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Copart

In other news, Director Matt Blunt sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.06, for a total value of $5,106,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Copart news, Chairman A Jayson Adair sold 600,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.77, for a total value of $34,662,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 19,687,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,137,374,604.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Matt Blunt sold 100,000 shares of Copart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.06, for a total transaction of $5,106,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 985,000 shares of company stock valued at $55,519,950. 10.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Copart from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Copart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Copart has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.00.

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.