Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 655,488 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 8,428 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 1.77% of Casey's General Stores worth $246,335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Casey's General Stores during the third quarter valued at approximately $959,880,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 3,846.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 172,320 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,750,000 after purchasing an additional 176,920 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 1,819.1% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 130,291 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,959,000 after purchasing an additional 123,502 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Casey's General Stores by 281.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 164,656 shares of the company's stock worth $61,863,000 after purchasing an additional 121,488 shares during the period. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Casey's General Stores by 110.0% in the second quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 177,190 shares of the company's stock worth $67,609,000 after purchasing an additional 92,813 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CASY has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Melius Research assumed coverage on Casey's General Stores in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $435.00 price objective on the stock. Gordon Haskett started coverage on Casey's General Stores in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They set a "hold" rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Casey's General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Casey's General Stores from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $419.45.

Insider Activity

In other Casey's General Stores news, Director Mike Spanos bought 267 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $376.18 per share, for a total transaction of $100,440.06. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $975,810.92. This trade represents a 11.47 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $427.13, for a total value of $192,208.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,247 shares in the company, valued at $959,761.11. The trade was a 16.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Casey's General Stores Trading Down 0.1 %

Casey's General Stores stock traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $425.27. 187,688 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 266,349. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Casey's General Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $266.58 and a 52-week high of $439.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64 and a beta of 0.80. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $405.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $382.11.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.56. Casey's General Stores had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 17.17%. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.24 earnings per share. Casey's General Stores's quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Casey's General Stores, Inc. will post 14.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey's General Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.94%.

Casey's General Stores Profile

Casey's General Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates convenience stores under the Casey's and Casey's General Store names. Its stores offer pizza, donuts, breakfast items, and sandwiches; and tobacco and nicotine products. The company's stores provide soft drinks, energy, water, sports drinks, juices, coffee, and tea and dairy products; beer, wine, and spirits; snacks, candy, packaged bakery, and other food items; ice, ice cream, meals, and appetizers; health and beauty aids, automotive products, electronic accessories, housewares, and pet supplies; and ATM, lotto/lottery, and prepaid cards.