Forsta AP Fonden Trims Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Forsta AP Fonden decreased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 93,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,100 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $18,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 826 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 50.6% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,937,000 after purchasing an additional 4,628 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 5,065 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the period. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter valued at $853,000. Finally, 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 2nd quarter worth $332,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.39.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:WM opened at $209.93 on Thursday. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $212.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.29. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $184.72 and a 12 month high of $230.39. The company has a market capitalization of $84.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.10, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 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 company 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 firm posted $1.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.87%.

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.