Private Advisor Group LLC Decreases Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Private Advisor Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 88,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,759 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $19,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter worth $40,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 47.0% in the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $246.66 on Tuesday. 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 fifty day moving average of $228.43 and a 200 day moving average of $219.99. The firm has a market cap of $99.49 billion, a PE ratio of 36.81, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.57. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $194.11 and a one year high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.945 per share. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 12,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.48, for a total value of $2,847,055.12. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 6,024 shares in the company, valued at $1,406,483.52. This trade represents a 66.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 93,527 shares of company stock valued at $21,940,327. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WM. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (down from $254.00) on shares of Waste Management in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Waste Management from $266.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.55.

About Waste Management

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.