Bridgewater Associates LP Decreases Holdings in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Bridgewater Associates LP trimmed its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 65,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,009 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP owned approximately 0.18% of Casey’s General Stores worth $17,995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,585,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,458,000 after acquiring an additional 113,437 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 732,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,922,000 after purchasing an additional 38,722 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 559,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,924,000 after purchasing an additional 18,528 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the fourth quarter worth $115,799,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Casey’s General Stores by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 265,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,057,000 after purchasing an additional 6,867 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CASY traded down $5.00 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $323.33. The company had a trading volume of 15,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 274,975. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $216.95 and a 1-year high of $344.61. The stock has a market cap of $11.97 billion, a PE ratio of 26.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $323.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $299.95.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.13. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 3.23%. The business had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.36 earnings per share. Casey’s General Stores’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 12.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $312.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $305.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Casey’s General Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.75.

Casey’s General Stores Company Profile

Casey's General Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates convenience stores under the Casey's and Casey's General Store names. Its stores offer pizza, donuts, breakfast items, and sandwiches; and tobacco and nicotine products. The company's stores provide soft drinks, energy, water, sports drinks, juices, coffee, and tea and dairy products; beer, wine, and spirits; snacks, candy, packaged bakery, and other food items; ice, ice cream, meals, and appetizers; health and beauty aids, automotive products, electronic accessories, housewares, and pet supplies; and ATM, lotto/lottery, and prepaid cards.