Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 3,721 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 59,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,721 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $10,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $4,407,000 after purchasing an additional 2,272 shares during the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 5.5% in 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 last quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 1.0% in 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 last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 93.0% in 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 last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 13,927.7% in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:WM traded up $1.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $210.43. The company had a trading volume of 1,823,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,654,906. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. The firm has a market cap of $84.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $207.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.15. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Waste Management news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 95,461 shares in the company, valued at $19,804,339.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have 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

Several equities analysts recently commented on WM shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus 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.