Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Piscataqua Savings Bank

Piscataqua Savings Bank cut its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,473 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 60 shares during the quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WM. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.39.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $209.43 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $84.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $212.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $183.00 and a 52 week high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 45.87%.

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.