Sterling Investment Management LLC Decreases Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sterling Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,758 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 143 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 2,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.7% during the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 3,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 9,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,660,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Ledyard National Bank grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% during the third quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 2,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shepherd Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.0% during the third quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,363 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director John C. Pope sold 185 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $33,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 56,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,219,441. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director John C. Pope sold 185 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $33,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,219,441. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total value of $1,738,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,816,516. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,242 shares of company stock worth $5,929,355 in the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Waste Management from $163.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.47.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $213.97 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.02. The firm has a market cap of $85.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $199.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.87.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 36.51% and a net margin of 11.28%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.00%.

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.