Mitchell Capital Management Co. Sells 723 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Mitchell Capital Management Co. cut its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,378 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 723 shares during the quarter. Mitchell Capital Management Co.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 57.6% in the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 364 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.5% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 154,536 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,082,000 after buying an additional 5,178 shares in the last quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.7% in the third quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 109,176 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,665,000 after buying an additional 1,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 14.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $847,000 after buying an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,046,109.78. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,192 shares of company stock valued at $15,025,861 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $232.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $93.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $233.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $215.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $213.96.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 48.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on WM. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Company 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.