Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Buys 500 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 75,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up 1.3% of Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $15,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,212,664.23. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,192 shares of company stock valued at $15,025,861 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM opened at $232.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $93.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $233.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The business’s fifty day moving average is $215.71 and its 200-day moving average is $213.89.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on WM. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.94.

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.