First Trust Advisors LP Sells 12,382 Shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

First Trust Advisors LP cut its holdings in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Free Report) by 35.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,322 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 12,382 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $2,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Casella Waste Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,048,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,577,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $272,705,000 after purchasing an additional 838,086 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 279.3% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,061 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 2,254 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 3,671 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 104.5% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 269,685 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $28,535,000 after buying an additional 137,779 shares during the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CWST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Casella Waste Systems from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $122.67.

Insider Activity

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

Casella Waste Systems Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of CWST stock traded up $0.03 on Friday, reaching $118.50. The company had a trading volume of 264,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 369,786. The stock has a market cap of $7.51 billion, a PE ratio of 515.22, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $112.84 and a 200-day moving average of $109.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.01 and a 12 month high of $121.24.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $417.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $403.64 million. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.87% and a return on equity of 4.15%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 22.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast 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.