Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Sells 3,476 Shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST – Get Rating) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,476 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $3,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,681,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $357,634,000 after purchasing an additional 18,189 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 0.5% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,229,098 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $246,670,000 after acquiring an additional 17,528 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 4.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,554,713 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $136,272,000 after acquiring an additional 63,251 shares during the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 12.8% during the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 1,481,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $107,642,000 after acquiring an additional 167,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,012,582 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $77,351,000 after acquiring an additional 6,699 shares during the last quarter. 96.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Shares of CWST opened at $94.17 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a PE ratio of 93.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.29. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $63.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.78. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.32.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.02. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 4.71% and a return on equity of 11.61%. The firm had revenue of $262.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $255.14 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Shelley E. Sayward sold 494 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.65, for a total transaction of $37,371.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,146 shares in the company, valued at $1,070,144.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Casella Waste Systems news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 869 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.65, for a total value of $65,739.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,981 shares in the company, valued at $1,814,162.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Shelley E. Sayward sold 494 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.65, for a total transaction of $37,371.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,146 shares in the company, valued at $1,070,144.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,498 shares of company stock worth $1,323,724 over the last 90 days. 4.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CWST shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $79.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $94.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, May 15th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.40.

About Casella Waste Systems

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Casella Waste Systems, Inc engages in the provision of solid waste management. It operates through the Eastern Region and Western Region geographical segments. The Eastern region segment involves the transfer, landfill, processing, and recycling assets serviced by collection operations. The Western region segment consists of waste sheds in western New York, which include the Ithaca, Elmira, Oneonta, Lowville, Potsdam, Geneva, Auburn, Rochester, Dunkirk, Jamestown and Olean markets.