Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Zacks Investment Management

by · The Cerbat Gem

Zacks Investment Management decreased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM – Free Report) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,737 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 211 shares during the quarter. Zacks Investment Management’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 780.8% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 560,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $113,123,000 after purchasing an additional 496,952 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 49,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,074,000 after buying an additional 6,292 shares in the last quarter. Stenger Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,033,000. Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 27,566 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,562,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 9,368 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,890,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WM shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.76.

View Our Latest Report on WM

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,158,100.47. This represents a 18.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock opened at $230.84 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $227.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $219.04. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $239.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $92.87 billion, a PE ratio of 33.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM – Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 48.53%.

Waste Management Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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