Gleason Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Gleason Group Inc. lowered its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 46.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 889 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 777 shares during the quarter. Gleason Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $179,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its position in Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 62.9% in the second quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WM. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. CIBC increased their target price on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.72.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $207.12 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $180.17 and a 12-month high of $230.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market cap of $83.13 billion, a PE ratio of 31.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.29.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS 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 dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.