Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Stock Position Lessened by Pitcairn Co.

Pitcairn Co. reduced its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 45 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WM. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% during 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 last quarter. General Partner Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 4.9 %

Waste Management stock opened at $225.34 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $239.32. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $226.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $217.45. The company has a market capitalization of $90.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. On average, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup raised their target price on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

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.