Tradition Wealth Management LLC Sells 568 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Tradition Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 20.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 568 shares during the quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WM. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $505,175,000 after acquiring an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 0.7% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 12,706 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,638,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 4.6% during the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 11,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,327,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 245.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 6,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Waste Management during the 3rd quarter worth about $562,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $230.84 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $92.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $219.11. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $239.32. 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 (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. On average, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WM. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. CIBC boosted 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. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.76.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 ninety days, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.