SlateStone Wealth LLC Grows Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,399 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,212,664.23. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.8 %

WM opened at $225.06 on Monday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $235.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.50 billion, a PE ratio of 33.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $220.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.35.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC lifted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Profile

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.