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

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

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,110,529 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $646,555,000 after purchasing an additional 123,001 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,577,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $272,705,000 after buying an additional 838,086 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,830,220 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $193,656,000 after buying an additional 13,678 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,644,476 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $174,002,000 after buying an additional 190,023 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,446,875 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $153,129,000 after buying an additional 15,917 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.51% of the company's stock.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CWST traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $118.50. 264,580 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 370,318. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.01 and a fifty-two week high of $121.24. The stock has a market cap of $7.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 515.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $112.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.80.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 2,000 shares of the 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Edmond Coletta sold 5,562 shares of Casella Waste Systems 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,888,083.74. This trade represents 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.

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.