Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Counterweight Ventures LLC

Counterweight Ventures LLC reduced its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Counterweight Ventures LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after acquiring an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the third 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. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $374,062,000 after buying an additional 437,613 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 138.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $149,168,000 after acquiring an additional 416,579 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on WM. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. 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 research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James upped their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, CIBC upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Ten equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total transaction of $903,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,185,967.59. The trade was a 17.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,294,071.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,424,457.04. This trade represents a 7.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $224.94 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. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $211.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.44. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.48 and a 52 week high of $230.39. The company has a market cap of $90.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.08, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. Research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.12%.

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.