Buckingham Capital Management Inc. Lowers Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Buckingham Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,402 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 379 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,695,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total transaction of $903,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,185,967.59. This trade represents a 17.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on WM. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank increased their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Argus raised 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of WM opened at $227.80 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $230.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $212.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.29. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

About Waste Management

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.