William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 11,614 Shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,640,498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 11,614 shares during the period. Casella Waste Systems comprises 0.7% of William Blair Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $279,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1,606.7% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 156.5% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 802 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CWST opened at $107.50 on Monday. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.41 and a 1 year high of $116.31. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of 467.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.65.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.25. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.87% and a return on equity of 4.15%. Analysts predict that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on CWST. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $115.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target 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. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Casella Waste Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.75.

Casella Waste Systems 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.