Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Wells Fargo & Company MN

Wells Fargo & Company MN lessened its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,021,216 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 37,381 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned approximately 1.00% of Waste Management worth $811,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 9,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,968,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Resolute Advisors LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Resolute Advisors LLC now owns 1,230 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP raised its stake in Waste Management by 679.7% during the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 221,055 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,607,000 after acquiring an additional 192,703 shares in the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 21,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,243,000 after purchasing an additional 2,664 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. This trade represents a 18.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. This trade represents a 12.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.9 %

Waste Management stock opened at $236.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $239.32. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $217.24. The company has a market capitalization of $95.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.53%.

Waste Management 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.