Old Port Advisors Trims Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Old Port Advisors lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 104 shares during the period. Waste Management makes up about 1.0% of Old Port Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Old Port Advisors’ holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $99,759,000 after acquiring an additional 28,266 shares in the last quarter. IMS Capital Management increased its position in Waste Management by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 4,447 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $923,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Syntax Research Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 502.8% during the 3rd quarter. Syntax Research Inc. now owns 12,086 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,509,000 after buying an additional 10,081 shares in the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.3% in the third quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 16,578 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,442,000 after buying an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in Waste Management during the third quarter worth $1,878,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus boosted their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.72.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WM traded down $1.48 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $200.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 244,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,620,574. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $215.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.60. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $176.68 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The firm has a market cap of $80.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The business had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 45.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.