Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Lowers Stake in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its holdings in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Free Report) by 22.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,847 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,492 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $2,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CWST. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 108.0% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 66,129 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,579,000 after purchasing an additional 34,340 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 667.9% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 48,231 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,785,000 after purchasing an additional 41,950 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 861,463 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $85,476,000 after buying an additional 26,189 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in Casella Waste Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $562,000. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 21.8% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 848,976 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $84,465,000 after buying an additional 151,744 shares during the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CWST traded up $0.75 on Monday, reaching $106.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 440,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 313,311. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 2.55. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.04 and a 52-week high of $114.88. The company has a market cap of $6.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 883.83, a PEG ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 1.02.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.46% and a return on equity of 3.04%. The firm had revenue of $411.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The company's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Casella Waste Systems from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $114.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 1,730 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.81, for a total value of $184,781.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 21,085 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,252,088.85. This represents a 7.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.