Meridian Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC cut its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,702 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 2.1% in the third 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 period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Waste Management by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,961,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $597,614,000 after purchasing an additional 157,082 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 12.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,175,000 after purchasing an additional 276,287 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

WM opened at $233.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.91 billion, a PE ratio of 34.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $216.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $214.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 66,192 shares of company stock worth $15,025,861. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, CIBC boosted their price objective 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

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.