Yousif Capital Management LLC Has $10.73 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,721 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $10,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $896,000. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 107,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,289,000 after acquiring an additional 2,051 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $582,000. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 2,985 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $535,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 45.8% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,640 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total transaction of $69,075.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,641.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM traded up $1.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $210.43. 1,823,000 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,654,906. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $207.88 and its 200 day moving average is $186.15. The stock has a market cap of $84.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.90. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 53.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.85.

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.