Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Sells 57,274 Shares of Caesarstone Ltd. (NASDAQ:CSTE)

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC cut its stake in Caesarstone Ltd. (NASDAQ:CSTE) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 333,119 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 57,274 shares during the quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC owned about 0.96% of Caesarstone worth $1,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CSTE. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Caesarstone by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 163,335 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $745,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Caesarstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $164,000. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in Caesarstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Caesarstone by 189.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 40,797 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 26,705 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Caesarstone by 87.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 43,445 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 20,271 shares in the last quarter. 33.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Caesarstone in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. They set a “hold” rating for the company.

Caesarstone Stock Down 2.7 %

NASDAQ:CSTE opened at $3.27 on Monday. Caesarstone Ltd. has a twelve month low of $3.24 and a twelve month high of $6.81. The stock has a market cap of $112.92 million, a P/E ratio of -1.63 and a beta of 0.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $4.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.36.

Caesarstone (NASDAQ:CSTE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The construction company reported ($0.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $97.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.40 million. Caesarstone had a negative net margin of 14.56% and a negative return on equity of 9.61%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.28) earnings per share.

Caesarstone Company Profile

Caesarstone Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and markets engineered stone and other materials under the Caesarstone brand in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Australia, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Israel. The company’s engineered stone slabs are primarily used as indoor and outdoor kitchen countertops in the renovation and remodeling, and residential construction sectors.