Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Sold by Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional cut its stake in Waste Management by 43.6% in Q4, selling 44,267 shares and leaving it with 57,278 shares valued at $12.59 million; institutional investors still own about 80.4% of the stock.
• Significant insider selling has occurred recently: CEO James C. Fish Jr. sold 30,390 shares (~$7.0M) and COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares (~$1.96M), with insiders selling 98,042 shares worth ~$23.04M over the past 90 days.
• Analysts hold a consensus “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $254.82; Waste Management slightly missed quarterly EPS and revenue estimates but raised its quarterly dividend to $0.945 ($3.78 annual, ~1.7% yield).

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. reduced its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 43.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 57,278 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 44,267 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $12,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Old Port Advisors boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 16,963 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,727,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,853 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 801 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Mendel Money Management boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 2,903 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canton Hathaway LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 9,644 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,130,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $265.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (down from $254.00) on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $254.82.

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 1.7%

Shares of WM stock opened at $227.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $233.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.03. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $248.13. The company has a market capitalization of $91.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.90, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The firm had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 1.7%. 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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