Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Stock Holdings Increased by Abbrea Capital LLC

Abbrea Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Abbrea Capital LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 10.3% during the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 28,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,371,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 57.5% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 7,880 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,201,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 0.4% during the third quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC now owns 128,885 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,647,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 170.7% in the third quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 4,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 2,860 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of Waste Management 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 approximately $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WM. HSBC downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Waste Management in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.85.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.1 %

WM traded up $2.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $212.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,096,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,671,374. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $208.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. 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. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.00%.

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.