Trust Co of the South Has $349,000 Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Trust Co of the South lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,731 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 202 shares during the quarter. Trust Co of the South’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Trium Capital LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 33.6% in the third quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 12,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,498,000 after buying an additional 3,029 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $99,759,000 after purchasing an additional 28,266 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 417.3% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $374,062,000 after buying an additional 437,613 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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 in the company, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. Argus raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.72.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock traded down $1.63 on Thursday, reaching $200.16. 677,161 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,620,574. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $215.99 and its 200-day moving average is $211.60. The firm has a market cap of $80.34 billion, a PE ratio of 30.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.75. 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 one year low of $176.68 and a one year high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 45.87%.

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.