Marshall Wace LLP Buys Shares of 51,166 Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 51,166 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,274,000. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 0.14% of Casey's General Stores as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CASY. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Casey's General Stores in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Casey's General Stores during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Casey's General Stores by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 149 shares of the company's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Casey's General Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in Casey's General Stores by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Casey's General Stores news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 250 shares of Casey's General Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.01, for a total value of $109,252.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,443 shares in the company, valued at $1,067,615.43. The trade was a 9.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mike Spanos purchased 256 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $390.54 per share, for a total transaction of $99,978.24. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,356 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,310,652.24. The trade was a 8.26 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens upgraded Casey's General Stores to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $438.00 price target on shares of Casey's General Stores and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com cut Casey's General Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Casey's General Stores from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, KeyCorp initiated coverage on Casey's General Stores in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $500.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $430.33.

Casey's General Stores Stock Performance

CASY stock traded down $1.80 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $445.50. 99,212 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 284,765. The firm has a market cap of $16.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.74. Casey's General Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $313.67 and a 1-year high of $468.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $422.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $412.77.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.57. Casey's General Stores had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 17.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.33 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Casey's General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey's General Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.94%.

Casey's General Stores Company Profile

Casey's General Stores, Inc engages in the provision of management and operation of convenience stores and gasoline stations. It provides self-service gasoline, a wide selection of grocery items, and an array of freshly prepared food items. The firm offers food, beverages, tobacco products, health and beauty aids, automotive products, and other non-food items.