BNP Paribas Financial Markets Reduces Holdings in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 71.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,265 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 22,941 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $980,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 131,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,122,000 after acquiring an additional 29,686 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 30.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 69.1% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 115.5% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,101,000 after purchasing an additional 10,646 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on CWST. UBS Group raised their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $115.00 to $113.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Casella Waste Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 2,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,414,578.49. This represents a 8.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Edmond Coletta sold 5,562 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.18, for a total value of $662,879.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 150,093 shares in the company, valued at $17,888,083.74. The trade was a 3.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CWST opened at $116.19 on Wednesday. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.01 and a 12-month high of $121.24. The stock has a market cap of $7.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 505.17, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $113.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.44.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.08. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 4.15% and a net margin of 0.87%. The firm had revenue of $417.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $403.64 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casella Waste Systems Company 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.