Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 43,280 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 72.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,258 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 43,280 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 218.3% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,369,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $302,494,000 after buying an additional 939,455 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 163.7% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,400,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $309,317,000 after buying an additional 869,453 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 2.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,436,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,487,924,000 after purchasing an additional 774,255 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Waste Management by 3,209.2% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 681,366 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $150,466,000 after purchasing an additional 660,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 247.5% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 868,780 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $198,799,000 after purchasing an additional 618,792 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WM. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.67.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total transaction of $1,955,413.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,177,625.92. The trade was a 7.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 617 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.13, for a total transaction of $150,628.21. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,345,356.91. The trade was a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 35,296 shares of company stock valued at $8,569,283 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE WM opened at $218.09 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $227.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $223.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.49. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $194.11 and a 52 week high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.945 per share. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 54.70%.

Waste Management Company 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.