Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Outfitter Financial LLC

Outfitter Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 105 shares during the period. Waste Management accounts for about 2.5% of Outfitter Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Outfitter Financial LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 8.5% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 28,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,407,000 after acquiring an additional 2,272 shares in the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,321 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,132,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 13,927.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $90,319,000 after purchasing an additional 500,701 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.24.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM traded up $1.15 on Friday, reaching $211.65. The company had a trading volume of 403,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,653,901. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $149.71 and a one year high of $214.54. The company has a market capitalization of $84.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.63, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average of $209.19 and a 200-day moving average of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors 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. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total value of $653,329.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at $7,262,034.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total value of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at $7,262,034.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.