Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Sold by Advisors Preferred LLC

Key Points

• Advisors Preferred LLC cut its stake in Waste Management by 85.9% in Q4, selling 7,795 shares and now holds 1,283 shares worth about $280,000.
• Waste Management beat Q1 EPS estimates ($1.81 vs. $1.75) with revenue up 3.5% year-over-year, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.945 (annualized $3.78, yield ~1.7%).
• Analysts have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a $255.67 price target, while institutional investors own roughly 80.4% of the company and several large funds materially increased their stakes.

Advisors Preferred LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 85.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,283 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 7,795 shares during the quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $280,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Waste Management by 218.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,369,805 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $302,494,000 after purchasing an additional 939,455 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in Waste Management by 163.7% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,400,701 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $309,317,000 after purchasing an additional 869,453 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,436,462 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,487,924,000 after purchasing an additional 774,255 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3,209.2% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 681,366 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $150,466,000 after acquiring an additional 660,776 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 247.5% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 868,780 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $198,799,000 after acquiring an additional 618,792 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, March 13th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $255.67.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $227.69 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $194.11 and a 1-year high of $248.13. The company has a market cap of $91.43 billion, a PE ratio of 32.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The company has a 50-day moving average of $232.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $222.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 54.70%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,818 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.83, for a total transaction of $1,165,136.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 78,918 shares in the company, valued at $19,084,739.94. The trade was a 5.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO John J. Morris sold 4,211 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.38, for a total transaction of $1,024,873.18. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 99,929 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,320,720.02. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 92,616 shares of company stock worth $21,849,115 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Company 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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