Rehmann Capital Advisory Group Trims Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lessened its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 128 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,133,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Waste Management by 250.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,658,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $334,716,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,905 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 valued at $1,265,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% in 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WM. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. CIBC upped their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Eight 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.35.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $233.55 on Thursday. 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 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $239.32. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $228.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $220.06. The firm has a market cap of $93.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management 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 transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. This represents a 18.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value 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 trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.