Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $4.98 Million Holdings in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

Lazard Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 47,112 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,108 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $4,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 38,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,123,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 55,006 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,820,000 after buying an additional 16,820 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,298,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 10,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,402,322 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $148,380,000 after buying an additional 193,571 shares in the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Edmond Coletta sold 5,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the president now owns 150,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,888,083.74. The trade was a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Paul Ligon sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Casella Waste Systems Trading Up 3.2%

CWST stock opened at $113.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 2.48. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $112.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.05. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $91.01 and a one year high of $121.24. The stock has a market cap of $7.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 493.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CWST has been the subject of several analyst reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $115.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.