Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $95.70 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 7.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 545,756 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 44,238 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $95,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 43.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,364,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $651,427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320,933 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 113.0% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,188,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $177,438,000 after buying an additional 630,685 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 5,715,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $856,641,000 after buying an additional 509,929 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1,167.4% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 473,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $83,020,000 after buying an additional 436,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 438.5% in the first quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 535,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $92,106,000 after buying an additional 436,041 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $2,902,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Waste Connections news, SVP Susan Netherton sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.13, for a total transaction of $358,260.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,805,272.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $2,902,215.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,600 shares of company stock worth $3,842,550 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Connections Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of WCN stock opened at $177.86 on Thursday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $126.12 and a 52-week high of $187.54. The stock has a market cap of $45.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $181.88 and a 200-day moving average of $173.25.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The business’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WCN shares. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.28.

Waste Connections Profile

Waste Connections, Inc provides non-hazardous waste collection, transfer, disposal, and resource recovery services in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services to residential, commercial, municipal, industrial, and exploration and production (E&P) customers; landfill disposal services; and recycling services for various recyclable materials, including compost, cardboard, mixed paper, plastic containers, glass bottles, and ferrous and aluminum metals.