Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $784,486,000. Mirova US LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 26,116.4% in the fourth quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 913,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $163,680,000 after buying an additional 910,418 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 40.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,923,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $523,581,000 after purchasing an additional 844,298 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the first quarter valued at about $117,299,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 13,927.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,319,000 after purchasing an additional 500,701 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total value of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 45,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,324,156.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $209.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 735,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,724,750. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.91 billion, a PE ratio of 34.27, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $208.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $200.00. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 49.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on WM shares. StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.61.

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.