BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. cut its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,778 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 402 shares during the quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,741,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $361,450,000 after purchasing an additional 122,696 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $99,759,000 after purchasing an additional 28,266 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 50.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 467 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,045.36. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 75,173 shares of company stock worth $17,075,967. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James lifted 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. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $229.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.75, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $218.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $214.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its 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 37.93%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

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.