HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Trims Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lessened its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,254 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 134 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $9,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 18.2% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,235 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,332,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 54.0% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 83,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,355,000 after purchasing an additional 29,315 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at $16,245,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the third quarter valued at $64,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $227.80 on Monday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $235.81. The stock has a market cap of $91.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $224.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid 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 was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. This represents a 7.22 % 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 the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WM. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup increased their price target on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

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.