MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Trims Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB decreased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 54,409 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,372 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $10,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,686,203,000 after purchasing an additional 168,818 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after buying an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $969,401,000 after buying an additional 12,664 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Waste Management by 6.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,846,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $820,539,000 after acquiring an additional 243,900 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. CIBC lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. William Blair assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.72.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:WM opened at $211.79 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $213.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $181.56 and a 12-month high of $230.39. The firm has a market cap of $85.01 billion, a PE ratio of 32.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS 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 business had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.