Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Lowers Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 348,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,831 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $70,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 538,567 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,654,173,000 after acquiring an additional 64,260 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 22.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $1,009,726,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $822,588,000 after buying an additional 224,279 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.29.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 79,522 shares of company stock worth $18,084,124 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $229.76 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $228.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $221.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $239.32. The firm has a market cap of $92.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.75 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.77%.

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.