Hartford Investment Management Co. Decreases Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 435 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,127 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position 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 buying an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $2,553,000 after buying an additional 5,367 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 28,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,798 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Argus lifted their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.50.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at $10,046,109.78. This represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,294,071.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,424,457.04. The trade was a 7.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $227.42 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.20 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.28 billion, a PE ratio of 33.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $211.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted 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 return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

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.