Private Capital Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• Private Capital Advisors Inc. cut its Waste Management stake by 51.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 41,518 shares and leaving it with 39,507 shares valued at about $8.68 million.
• Analysts remain generally positive on WM, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.67, despite some mixed target-price adjustments from major firms.
• Waste Management reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.81 per share and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.945 per share, payable June 18.

Private Capital Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 51.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,507 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 41,518 shares during the quarter. Waste Management accounts for about 0.9% of Private Capital Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Private Capital Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $8,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 54,355 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,947,000 after acquiring an additional 8,455 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,331 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,763,000 after acquiring an additional 2,338 shares during the last quarter. Shelter Rock Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,105,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $357,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 39.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,273 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Waste Management from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $255.67.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.13, for a total value of $150,628.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,345,356.91. This represents a 6.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total value of $4,171,464.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 44,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,674,944.26. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 35,296 shares of company stock worth $8,569,283 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.2%

WM opened at $218.09 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $223.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $194.11 and a one year high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.90% and a net margin of 10.99%.Waste Management's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. Analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.70%.

Waste Management Profile

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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