Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Stake Trimmed by S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC

S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC trimmed its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 12.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 1,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 2.2% during the first quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 2,571 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Peoples Financial Services CORP. boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 3,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.61.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM traded up $0.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $213.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,908,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,972,412. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $208.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $199.69. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.71 and a 12 month high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

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.