Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC cut its stake in Waste Management by 59.1% in Q4, selling 5,402 shares and leaving it with 3,738 shares valued at about $821,000.
• Company insiders have been active sellers: CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 30,390 shares (~$7.0M) and COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares (~$1.96M), with insiders disposing of 98,042 shares worth $23.04M over the past 90 days.
• Waste Management slightly missed quarterly EPS and revenue estimates despite 7.1% revenue growth year-over-year, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.945 ($3.78 annual), and holds a MarketBeat consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a $254.59 price target.

Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 59.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,738 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,402 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WM. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 101.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 133 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on WM. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, March 13th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $232.00 to $230.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $254.59.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 30,390 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.36, for a total transaction of $7,000,640.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 225,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,013,675.48. This represents a 11.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total transaction of $1,955,413.53. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,656 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,177,625.92. This represents a 7.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE WM opened at $231.56 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $194.11 and a 12 month high of $248.13. The company has a 50-day moving average of $232.85 and a 200-day moving average of $221.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $93.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The company had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.42%.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc NYSE: WM is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.

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