NBT Bank N A NY Sells 92 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

NBT Bank N A NY cut its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,102 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WM. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.5 %

WM stock opened at $224.25 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $219.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.04. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $235.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $90.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 48.53%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.