Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.

Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. trimmed its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 23.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position 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. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. Trium Capital LLP increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 33.6% during the 3rd quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 12,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,498,000 after purchasing an additional 3,029 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 77.4% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after buying an additional 5,367 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 6.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $99,759,000 after buying an additional 28,266 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WM. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.72.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $209.43 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $212.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.27. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $183.00 and a 12-month high of $230.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The stock has a market cap of $84.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.