Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Shares Purchased by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio increased its stake in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Free Report) by 21.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,900 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Strs Ohio owned 0.10% of Casella Waste Systems worth $4,777,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 238,043 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $20,865,000 after purchasing an additional 16,077 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the first quarter worth about $244,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 54.9% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 25,964 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,276,000 after buying an additional 9,202 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 11,014 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL acquired a new position in Casella Waste Systems in the 1st quarter worth approximately $453,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CWST. StockNews.com raised shares of Casella Waste Systems from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Casella Waste Systems from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.71.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

CWST stock traded up $1.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $93.43. 219,124 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 291,102. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $93.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.05. The firm has a market cap of $5.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 206.45, a PEG ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 0.90. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.97 and a 1-year high of $100.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The industrial products company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.03). Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 2.01% and a return on equity of 5.81%. The business had revenue of $359.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $360.08 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. Casella Waste Systems's revenue for the quarter was up 32.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Edmond Coletta sold 8,271 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $746,871.30. Following the sale, the president now owns 168,556 shares in the company, valued at $15,220,606.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO John W. Casella sold 1,673 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.13, for a total value of $157,479.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,312,340.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Edmond Coletta sold 8,271 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $746,871.30. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 168,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,220,606.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,238 shares of company stock worth $1,026,395 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 4.75% of the company's stock.

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.