Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Sells 460 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 12.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 460 shares during the quarter. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.4% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. grew its position in Waste Management by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 3,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in Waste Management by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 1,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 2,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Waste Management stock traded up $1.65 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $210.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,828,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,665,506. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $214.54. The company has a market capitalization of $84.45 billion, a PE ratio of 37.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $207.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total value of $69,075.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,640,641.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Waste Management news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total transaction of $69,075.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,641.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.85.

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.