Voya Investment Management LLC Acquires 260,689 Shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Free Report) by 1,368.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 279,743 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 260,689 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.44% of Casella Waste Systems worth $29,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1,606.7% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 256 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 124.4% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 276 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 156.5% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 318 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 171.6% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 364 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Casella Waste Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $58,000. 99.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Casella Waste Systems news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 2,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,347 shares in the company, valued at $2,414,578.49. The trade was a 8.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Shares of CWST stock traded up $1.09 on Tuesday, reaching $117.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 366,305 shares, compared to its average volume of 361,541. The company has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 509.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.96. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $111.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.89 and a 1 year high of $120.69.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Casella Waste Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $115.00 to $113.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $122.67.

About Casella Waste Systems

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.