Colonial Trust Advisors Has $11.69 Million Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Colonial Trust Advisors decreased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 149 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up about 1.0% of Colonial Trust Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings in Waste Management were worth $11,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Waste Management by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 79,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,980,000 after buying an additional 4,798 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. CIBC raised 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. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.94.

Waste Management Trading Up 3.6 %

WM opened at $224.33 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $227.14 and its 200-day moving average is $217.91. 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 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $239.32. The company has a market cap of $90.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.99, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares in the company, valued at $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Company 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.