Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $2.04 Billion Stake in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,876,517 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 941,858 shares during the period. Copart comprises 1.1% of Principal Financial Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 4.04% of Copart worth $2,037,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Copart by 1.8% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 24,417 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,414,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Copart by 4.0% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 16,831 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $975,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Copart by 31.2% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 984 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Copart by 3.7% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 29,795 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,726,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Copart by 13.4% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 120,786 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,996,000 after purchasing an additional 14,275 shares during the last quarter. 85.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Copart from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th.

Copart Price Performance

Copart stock traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $55.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,467,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,418,886. Copart, Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.20 and a 52-week high of $58.58. The company has a market cap of $53.86 billion, a PE ratio of 40.16 and a beta of 1.27. The firm's 50 day moving average is $52.31 and its 200 day moving average is $53.01.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The business services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 19.55% and a net margin of 32.17%. Copart's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Copart, Inc. will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

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.