SlateStone Wealth LLC Sells 727 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

SlateStone Wealth LLC lessened its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 25.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 727 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 28,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,407,000 after buying an additional 2,272 shares during the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,321 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Ingalls & Snyder LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 22,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,455,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 46,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,348,000 after purchasing an additional 22,455 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 13,927.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,319,000 after purchasing an additional 500,701 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total value of $153,899.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,204 shares in the company, valued at $14,934,010.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total value of $653,329.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,262,034.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total value of $153,899.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,934,010.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:WM traded up $1.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $208.85. 831,015 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,653,101. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $207.69 and its 200-day moving average is $185.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.71 and a 12-month high of $214.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.72. 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 (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. Waste Management had a return on equity of 36.51% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on WM. Citigroup boosted their price target on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.