Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 267,990 Shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its holdings in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Free Report) by 35.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 483,349 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 267,990 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.76% of Casella Waste Systems worth $51,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,577,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $272,705,000 after purchasing an additional 838,086 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,785,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,326,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 13.1% in the 4th 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, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Casella Waste Systems by 41.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 495,294 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $50,604,000 after acquiring an additional 144,212 shares during the period. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Casella Waste Systems

In related news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.67, for a total transaction of $237,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 4.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Casella Waste Systems Trading Up 2.4 %

Casella Waste Systems stock traded up $2.75 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $119.50. 56,912 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 364,784. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.01 and a fifty-two week high of $120.69. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 518.85, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.89. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $112.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.31.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday, February 14th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Casella Waste Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $113.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $122.67.

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.