Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lessened its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 45.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 518 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 428 shares during the period. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $110,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,963,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,061,521,000 after acquiring an additional 46,084 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,213,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $794,174,000 after acquiring an additional 66,816 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,799,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $859,624,000 after acquiring an additional 16,213 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $784,486,000. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Waste Management by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,923,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $523,581,000 after purchasing an additional 844,298 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.61.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock traded up $0.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $213.34. 2,908,229 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,972,412. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $199.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 49.10%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total value of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.