Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Sold by BTC Capital Management Inc.

BTC Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WMFree Report) by 53.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,226 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 28,064 shares during the quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 101.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 133 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the second quarter valued at $40,000. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $229.73 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $248.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $232.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.97. The company has a market cap of $92.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.29, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.57.

Waste Management (NYSE:WMGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.945 per share. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.42%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 12,194 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.48, for a total transaction of $2,847,055.12. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 6,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,406,483.52. The trade was a 66.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 30,390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.36, for a total value of $7,000,640.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 225,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,013,675.48. This represents a 11.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WM. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Citigroup cut their price target on Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group raised Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Waste Management from $266.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.59.

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Waste Management Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Waste Management (NYSE:WM)

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