Insider Selling: Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) SVP Sells 2,000 Shares of Stock

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) SVP Paul Ligon sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.67, for a total value of $237,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Casella Waste Systems Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CWST traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $118.30. The company had a trading volume of 696,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 356,272. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.89. 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 firm has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 514.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.96. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $86.41 and a 1-year high of $120.69.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $0.41 earnings per share (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 predict that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on CWST. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen started coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Casella Waste Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.67.

Institutional Trading of Casella Waste Systems

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CWST. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 1,606.7% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 124.4% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 276 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Casella Waste Systems in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake 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 valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

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.