Ameriprise Financial Inc. Acquires 193,571 Shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Free Report) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,402,322 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 193,571 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 2.22% of Casella Waste Systems worth $148,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 1,606.7% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 256 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 124.4% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 276 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Casella Waste Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 156.5% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 318 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 171.6% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 364 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company's stock.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ:CWST traded down $5.35 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $113.15. The stock had a trading volume of 137,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 369,466. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $112.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 490.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.89. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $91.01 and a one year high of $122.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 2.00.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $417.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $403.64 million. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 4.15% and a net margin of 0.87%. Casella Waste Systems's quarterly revenue was up 22.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.67, for a total transaction of $237,340.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,347 shares in the company, valued at $2,414,578.49. This trade represents a 8.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Edmond Coletta sold 5,562 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.18, for a total value of $662,879.16. Following the transaction, the president now owns 150,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,888,083.74. The trade was a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CWST. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, February 14th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Casella Waste Systems currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $122.67.

Casella Waste Systems Company Profile

Casella Waste Systems, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a vertically integrated solid waste services company in the United States. It offers resource management services primarily in the areas of solid waste collection and disposal, transfer, recycling, and organics services to residential, commercial, municipal, institutional, and industrial customers.