Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Sells 2,582 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lessened its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 18.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,436 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,582 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. 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 boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 22,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,455,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 93.0% in the fourth 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 boosted its position in 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 worth $90,319,000 after buying an additional 500,701 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total value of $153,899.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,934,010.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total value of $153,899.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,934,010.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total transaction of $69,075.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,641.52. 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 quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.24.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.2 %

WM opened at $210.00 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.23 billion, a PE ratio of 34.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50-day moving average is $209.04 and its 200 day moving average is $189.80.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

About Waste Management

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.