Philadelphia Trust Co. Reduces Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Philadelphia Trust Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,860 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 195 shares during the period. Philadelphia Trust Co.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 17,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,447,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Trust Co purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $365,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 609 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Argent Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 14,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,903,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $232,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on WM. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. CIBC boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James boosted 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.76.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $229.30 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $218.19. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $239.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.72, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.