Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC

Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC decreased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 24.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 431 shares during the quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $340,611,000. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,526,823,000 after purchasing an additional 538,567 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 138.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $149,168,000 after purchasing an additional 416,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $60,668,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,446.72. This trade represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. This trade represents a 18.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM opened at $227.26 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $223.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $216.19. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $235.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company has a market cap of $91.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

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.