Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Stake Lowered by Edge Wealth Management LLC

Edge Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,987 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,217 shares during the quarter. Waste Management accounts for 3.1% of Edge Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Edge Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $15,535,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cypress Wealth Services LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 1,950 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,806,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 18,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,785,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. West Coast Financial LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 62,991 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,711,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,704 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,976,000 after acquiring an additional 1,381 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $211.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.27, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $214.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.23. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $180.25 and a twelve month high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The business had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 45.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair began coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, CIBC raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.72.

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.