Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Has $411,000 Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 21.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 595 shares during the quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Waste Management during the first quarter worth $29,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $205.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $82.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.23, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50 day moving average of $206.94 and a 200-day moving average of $184.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.00%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $1,844,111.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 95,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,804,339.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total value of $1,844,111.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 95,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,804,339.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.85.

Waste Management Company 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.