Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Smith Salley Wealth Management

Smith Salley Wealth Management cut its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,011 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 376 shares during the quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 48.8% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,977 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 45,668 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,215,000 after acquiring an additional 2,752 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 30,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,216,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 11,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 5,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock opened at $211.79 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $213.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.25. The stock has a market cap of $85.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.77. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $181.56 and a fifty-two week high of $230.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WM. UBS Group raised their price objective on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 4th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.