Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,104 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,991 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $18,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in Waste Management by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 124,848 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,193,000 after purchasing an additional 15,974 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,135 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $295,000. Finally, Davis R M Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 1,958 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE:WM traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $225.54. The stock had a trading volume of 1,596,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,632,051. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.64. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $242.58. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 35.67% and a net margin of 11.67%. The firm's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Waste Management's payout ratio is 49.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. CIBC lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $229.00 target price on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Melius Research upgraded Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $251.29.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management 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.