M&T Bank Corp Has $41.53 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

M&T Bank Corp lowered its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 205,815 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,711 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $41,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on WM. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upped their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.94.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at $48,212,664.23. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 66,406 shares of company stock worth $15,076,127. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $229.86 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.80, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $235.81. The company’s 50-day moving average is $216.80 and its 200 day moving average is $214.38.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

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.