Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Shares Acquired by Forge First Asset Management Inc.

Forge First Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 994.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 110,060 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Casella Waste Systems accounts for 5.0% of Forge First Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Forge First Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Casella Waste Systems worth $9,948,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWST. TD Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 89.1% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 42.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1,364.9% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 542 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. 95.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CWST shares. TheStreet cut Casella Waste Systems from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Friday, October 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Thursday, September 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Casella Waste Systems from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casella Waste Systems

In other news, CFO Edmond Coletta sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.66, for a total value of $816,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 156,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,773,583.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 5.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CWST traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $81.44. The stock had a trading volume of 21,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 292,566. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.03, a P/E/G ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.94. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.33 and a 52 week high of $95.78.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $352.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $360.67 million. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 7.07% and a net margin of 3.03%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Casella Waste Systems

Casella Waste Systems, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a vertically integrated solid waste services company in the northeastern 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.