West Family Investments Inc. Trims Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

West Family Investments Inc. lessened its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 197 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the 3rd 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 75,173 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,967. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $225.83 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $217.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $214.57. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $235.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) 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 37.93%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 48.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Company 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.