Essex LLC Sells 530 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Essex LLC decreased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,965 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 530 shares during the period. Essex LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 77.4% in the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,529,000 after buying an additional 1,798 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus lifted their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James raised their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Ten investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total transaction of $903,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares in the company, valued at $4,185,967.59. This represents a 17.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.0 %

WM stock opened at $224.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $90.28 billion, a PE ratio of 33.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.48 and a 52 week high of $230.39. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $211.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.44.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

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.