HB Wealth Management LLC Sells 3,315 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

HB Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,706 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,315 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $10,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,436,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,487,924,000 after purchasing an additional 774,255 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 5.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,668,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,250,613,000 after purchasing an additional 277,250 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Waste Management by 0.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,954,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $873,276,000 after purchasing an additional 11,688 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Waste Management by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,530,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $781,494,000 after purchasing an additional 236,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its holdings in Waste Management by 12.6% during the third quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 3,262,148 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $720,380,000 after purchasing an additional 364,512 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total value of $4,171,464.31. Following the sale, the vice president owned 44,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,674,944.26. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 121 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.27, for a total transaction of $29,677.67. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,293 shares in the company, valued at $2,279,294.11. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Trading Up 4.0%

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $232.98 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $232.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.29. The company has a market cap of $93.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.77, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.14 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 56.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen increased their price target on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group upgraded Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.64.

Waste Management 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.