Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC cut its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 66.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,679 shares during the quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $857,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.9% in the third quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.9% during the third quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners raised its stake in Waste Management by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 1,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Werlinich Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 4,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $910,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. CIBC upped their price target on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Argus lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.72.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM opened at $211.79 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $214.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $181.56 and a 12-month high of $230.39. The firm 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. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

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

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.