NBW Capital LLC Sells 202 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

NBW Capital LLC lowered its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 202 shares during the period. NBW Capital LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Waste Management by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,370,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,156,281,000 after buying an additional 1,718,449 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 16.9% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $827,815,000 after purchasing an additional 776,491 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,213,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $794,174,000 after purchasing an additional 66,816 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,112,019 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $801,972,000 after buying an additional 160,466 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 110,208.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,778,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $749,659,000 after buying an additional 4,774,218 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on WM. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.85.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $461,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,080,935.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total value of $461,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,959 shares in the company, valued at $6,080,935.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the completion of 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. Insiders sold 20,507 shares of company stock valued at $4,157,770 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of WM traded down $1.28 on Thursday, hitting $204.87. 440,456 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,664,042. The company has a market capitalization of $82.21 billion, a PE ratio of 36.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $206.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.43. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $149.71 and a one year high of $214.54.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.