Woodline Partners LP Cuts Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Woodline Partners LP lowered its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 30.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,579 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 23,019 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP's holdings in Waste Management were worth $10,610,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. HSBC raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.06.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total transaction of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,902,246.40. This trade represents a 12.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. This represents a 18.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,385 shares of company stock valued at $6,636,603 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.4%

WM traded up $1.02 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $237.83. The stock had a trading volume of 1,047,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,660,499. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $239.48. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $229.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $95.70 billion, a PE ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.75 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Waste Management Company 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.