US Bancorp DE Cuts Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

US Bancorp DE lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 223,822 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,993 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE owned about 0.06% of Waste Management worth $45,166,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.4 %

WM opened at $232.83 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $233.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.63 billion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $215.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $213.96.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at $48,212,664.23. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total value of $1,304,087.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 55,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,646,598.37. This represents a 9.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,192 shares of company stock worth $15,025,861 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, CIBC lifted their price target on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Nine 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

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.