Pathstone Holdings LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Pathstone Holdings LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,731 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 672 shares during the quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $12,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Waste Management by 250.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,658,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $334,716,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,905 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in 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. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $205,506,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 3,094 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $705,772.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 53,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,241,066.93. This trade represents a 5.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 79,522 shares of company stock valued at $18,084,124. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $227.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $91.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $228.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $221.51. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $239.32. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.29.

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.