Gradient Investments LLC Sells 3,298 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Gradient Investments LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN – Get Rating) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,879 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,298 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $5,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 1.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,154,877 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,669,438,000 after purchasing an additional 426,512 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,291,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,565,922,000 after acquiring an additional 2,907,249 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,966,911 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,346,827,000 after acquiring an additional 981,635 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 193.6% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 8,643,709 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,184,447,000 after acquiring an additional 5,699,706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management SA raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 0.3% during the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 6,862,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $932,872,000 after acquiring an additional 23,567 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William J. Razzouk sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.61, for a total transaction of $135,610.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $465,277.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP James Little sold 4,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.87, for a total transaction of $611,415.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 29,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,995,936.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William J. Razzouk sold 1,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.61, for a total transaction of $135,610.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $465,277.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,700 shares of company stock worth $1,177,955 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WCN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James raised their price target on Waste Connections from $152.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 17th. Atb Cap Markets upgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $154.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.75.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $134.36 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $132.92 and its 200-day moving average is $135.82. The firm has a market cap of $34.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.50 and a 1-year high of $148.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The business services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.23% and a net margin of 11.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 28th. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is 31.58%.

About Waste Connections

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Waste Connections, Inc engages in the provision of non-hazardous waste collection, transfer, and disposal services. The firm offers its services to residential, commercial, landfill and transfer stations, and industries such as office, apartments multi-family, construction and demolition, property management, retail, restaurant, and manufacturing.