Lincoln National Corp Raises Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Lincoln National Corp lifted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the third quarter worth $41,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 40.1% in the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM traded up $0.85 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $211.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 179,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,660,787. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.71 and a 12 month high of $214.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $209.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.80.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total value of $153,899.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WM. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.24.

About Waste Management

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.