Private Capital Advisors Inc. Reduces Stake in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Private Capital Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 51.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 41,518 shares during the period. Waste Management makes up about 0.9% of Private Capital Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Private Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $8,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Guerra Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Waste Management by 59.5% in the 3rd quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc now owns 9,037 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,996,000 after purchasing an additional 3,371 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK raised its holdings in Waste Management by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 196,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,192,000 after purchasing an additional 3,880 shares during the period. Compass Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 537.0% in the 3rd quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 95,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,138,000 after purchasing an additional 80,695 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 19.1% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 69,287 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,301,000 after acquiring an additional 11,135 shares during the period. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 333.1% during the fourth quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 8,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,855,000 after acquiring an additional 6,493 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays raised their price target on Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Waste Management from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.67.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,818 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.83, for a total transaction of $1,165,136.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 78,918 shares in the company, valued at $19,084,739.94. This trade represents a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.13, for a total value of $150,628.21. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,345,356.91. The trade was a 6.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 35,296 shares of company stock worth $8,569,283. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $218.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $87.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $227.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $223.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.90% and a net margin of 10.99%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.70%.

Waste Management Company 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.