Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Stake Cut by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lowered its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Free Report) by 39.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 163,794 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 108,182 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.26% of Casella Waste Systems worth $17,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 44.0% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 55,006 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,820,000 after purchasing an additional 16,820 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,267 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,298,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 10,888 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,152,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,402,322 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $148,380,000 after purchasing an additional 193,571 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 432,896 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $45,805,000 after acquiring an additional 119,461 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Casella Waste Systems

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CWST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut Casella Waste Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $113.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $122.67.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of CWST stock traded up $0.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $114.52. 442,877 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 381,195. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.01 and a fifty-two week high of $121.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 2.00. The company has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 497.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.89. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $113.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.20.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.87% and a return on equity of 4.15%. The business had revenue of $417.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $403.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 22.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Casella Waste Systems 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.