Viawealth LLC Lowers Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Viawealth LLC lowered its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,265 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. Viawealth LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $457,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Maia Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,511 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,717,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WM. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. This represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $227.37 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $235.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.44, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $221.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.65.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 48.53%.

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.