Xponance Inc. Lowers Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Xponance Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 85,532 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 816 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $15,319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, HSBC cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total transaction of $653,329.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,262,034.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total value of $653,329.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,262,034.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total transaction of $153,899.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,204 shares in the company, valued at $14,934,010.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.9 %

Waste Management stock traded up $1.83 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $206.90. 164,046 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,651,440. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.71 and a 12-month high of $214.54. The business has a fifty day moving average of $206.94 and a 200 day moving average of $184.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $83.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.23, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. Waste Management had a return on equity of 36.51% and a net margin of 11.28%. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.00%.

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.