Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 2,588 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,478 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,588 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $10,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,583,000. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,092,000. Guerra Advisors Inc raised its stake in Waste Management by 59.5% during the 3rd quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc now owns 9,037 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,996,000 after buying an additional 3,371 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK raised its stake in Waste Management by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 196,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,192,000 after buying an additional 3,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 537.0% during the 3rd quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 95,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,138,000 after buying an additional 80,695 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 7,352 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.50, for a total value of $1,724,044.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,644,130. This represents a 32.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total transaction of $4,171,464.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 44,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,674,944.26. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $232.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $254.59.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of WM stock opened at $231.56 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $248.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $232.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $221.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $93.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 56.42%.

Waste Management Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.