Constitution Capital LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Constitution Capital LLC lessened its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 45.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,295 shares during the quarter. Constitution Capital LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WM. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Sprott Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.4% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,213,486 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $506,490,000 after buying an additional 31,562 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.9% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 204,304 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,749,000 after buying an additional 14,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waterloo Capital L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 34.0% in the second quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 3,461 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $792,000 after buying an additional 879 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Waste Management from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Friday, March 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.59.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $227.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $231.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $220.65. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $194.11 and a 52 week high of $248.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.97, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.57.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.945 per share. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO John J. Morris sold 4,211 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.38, for a total transaction of $1,024,873.18. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 99,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,320,720.02. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,818 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.83, for a total transaction of $1,165,136.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 78,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,084,739.94. The trade was a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.