Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 215 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 215 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WM. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 65.7% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James raised their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.50.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $224.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.48 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $211.84 and its 200 day moving average is $211.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its 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 return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,294,071.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,424,457.04. The trade was a 7.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Waste Management

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.