Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) is Atwater Malick LLC’s 8th Largest Position

Atwater Malick LLC reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 68,764 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 363 shares during the period. Waste Management comprises 4.6% of Atwater Malick LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Atwater Malick LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $13,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,686,203,000 after purchasing an additional 168,818 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after buying an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $969,401,000 after buying an additional 12,664 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Waste Management by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 6.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,846,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $820,539,000 after acquiring an additional 243,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.72.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock opened at $211.79 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $214.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $181.56 and a 12-month high of $230.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.01 billion, a PE ratio of 32.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 45.87%.

Waste Management 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.