Silphium Asset Management Ltd Sells 5,711 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• Silphium Asset Management reduced its stake in Waste Management by 44.2% in Q4, selling 5,711 shares and holding 7,204 shares valued at about $1.583 million at period-end.
• Company insiders sold heavily last quarter — including COO John J. Morris and CEO James C. Fish Jr. — with a total of 98,042 shares sold worth roughly $23.04 million, leaving insider ownership at 0.18%.
• Analysts remain broadly positive: Waste Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $255.64, and several firms (including JPMorgan and TD Cowen) have raised targets to $270.

Silphium Asset Management Ltd lessened its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 44.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,204 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,711 shares during the period. Silphium Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 101.5% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 133 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on WM. Wolfe Research began coverage on Waste Management in a report on Friday, March 13th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $250.00 price target (down from $254.00) on shares of Waste Management in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Waste Management from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $255.64.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.0%

WM opened at $223.97 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $90.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.54. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $194.11 and a 12 month high of $248.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $233.24 and a 200 day moving average of $222.12.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.945 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total transaction of $1,955,413.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 98,656 shares in the company, valued at $24,177,625.92. The trade was a 7.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 30,390 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.36, for a total value of $7,000,640.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 225,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,013,675.48. The trade was a 11.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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