Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Sells 1,822 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC cut its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,022 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,822 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 77.4% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after acquiring an additional 5,367 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $99,759,000 after acquiring an additional 28,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $225.95 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $211.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.69 billion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.48 and a 1-year high of $230.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.50.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 18,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,185,967.59. The trade was a 17.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,294,071.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 69,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,424,457.04. This represents a 7.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity.