Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Free Report) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,374 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,276 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.10% of Casella Waste Systems worth $7,023,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $646,555,000 after buying an additional 123,001 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,830,220 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $193,656,000 after purchasing an additional 13,678 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,644,476 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $174,002,000 after purchasing an additional 190,023 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,446,875 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $153,129,000 after purchasing an additional 15,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 871,344 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $92,197,000 after purchasing an additional 22,368 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective 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. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Casella Waste Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $115.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Casella Waste Systems presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $122.67.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Shares of CWST traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $113.31. 131,443 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 359,875. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $111.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.47. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $86.41 and a 12-month high of $120.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 2.00. The company has a market cap of $7.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 492.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.96.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.25. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.87% and a return on equity of 4.15%. Research analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Casella Waste Systems

In other news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.67, for a total transaction of $237,340.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,347 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,414,578.49. The trade was a 8.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 4.24% of the company's stock.

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.