BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC Sells 122 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 122 shares during the period. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Drake & Associates LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 1,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. lifted its position in Waste Management by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 3,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FCA Corp TX lifted its position in Waste Management by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. FCA Corp TX now owns 5,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,002,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on WM. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.61.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM traded down $0.21 on Thursday, reaching $209.71. 347,324 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,654,263. The company has a fifty day moving average of $209.55 and a 200-day moving average of $193.27. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54. The company has a market capitalization of $84.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.37, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $1,844,111.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 95,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,804,339.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $1,844,111.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 95,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,804,339.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,500 shares of company stock worth $2,390,951 in the last quarter. Corporate 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.