Romano Brothers AND Company Sells 130 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Romano Brothers AND Company lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,103 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 130 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WM. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,686,203,000 after purchasing an additional 168,818 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after buying an additional 520,096 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $969,401,000 after acquiring an additional 12,664 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 6.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,846,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $820,539,000 after acquiring an additional 243,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.4 %

WM opened at $211.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $181.56 and a twelve month high of $230.39. The company has a market cap of $85.01 billion, a PE ratio of 32.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $213.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.24.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The business had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.72.

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.