Wambolt & Associates LLC Sells 2,398 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Wambolt & Associates LLC trimmed its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,397 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,398 shares during the period. Waste Management makes up 1.1% of Wambolt & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Florida Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $248,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $255,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in Waste Management by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 8,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,733,000 after acquiring an additional 2,630 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WM. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James upped their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,045.36. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of WM opened at $226.17 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $223.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $216.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $235.81. The company has a market capitalization of $90.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.26, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.53%.

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.