Stephens Inc. AR Sells 2,548 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Stephens Inc. AR trimmed its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,337 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,548 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $26,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,686,203,000 after buying an additional 168,818 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after buying an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after buying an additional 2,588,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 12.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,175,000 after buying an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on WM. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price 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. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.50.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value 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 $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 18,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,185,967.59. This represents a 17.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.0 %

WM stock opened at $224.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $90.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.08, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.48 and a 12 month high of $230.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $211.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.44.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.12%.

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.