Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Cresset Asset Management LLC

Cresset Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 28.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 60,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 24,527 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $12,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,526,823,000 after buying an additional 538,567 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,654,173,000 after acquiring an additional 64,260 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,265,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,237 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,009,726,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $822,588,000 after purchasing an additional 224,279 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.29.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock opened at $234.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $94.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $228.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $239.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued 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 1.41%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.77%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total value of $1,304,087.32. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 55,587 shares in the company, valued at $12,646,598.37. The trade was a 9.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 83,522 shares of company stock worth $18,987,684 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.