Private Advisor Group LLC Decreases Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Private Advisor Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 88,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,759 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $19,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 101.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 133 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in Waste Management in the second quarter worth $40,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management during the third quarter worth $41,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in Waste Management during the third quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 47.0% in the third quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,818 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.83, for a total transaction of $1,165,136.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 78,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,084,739.94. This trade represents a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total transaction of $1,955,413.53. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,177,625.92. The trade was a 7.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,527 shares of company stock worth $21,940,327. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $246.66 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $228.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $219.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $194.11 and a one year high of $248.13. The company has a market capitalization of $99.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.945 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Waste Management from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.55.

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.