Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Sandhill Capital Partners LLC

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC decreased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,649 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,261 shares during the period. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 28,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,371,000 after acquiring an additional 2,672 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 57.5% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Waste Management by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 7,880 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,201,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC now owns 128,885 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,647,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 170.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 4,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 2,860 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.1 %

WM stock traded up $2.22 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $212.65. 2,097,044 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,671,379. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $208.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.32. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $85.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.02, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 53.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total value of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at $7,262,034.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total transaction of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at $7,262,034.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total transaction of $363,937.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 55,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,353,349.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.85.

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.