Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Trims Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lessened its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $14,742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after buying an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $538,013,000 after acquiring an additional 2,588,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 276,287 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $224.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $90.28 billion, a PE ratio of 33.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.48 and a fifty-two week high of $230.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $211.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.44.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued 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 return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. Analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 18,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,185,967.59. The trade was a 17.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 transaction of $42,062.02. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WM. Oppenheimer increased their price target 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. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.50.

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.