Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Prana Capital Management LP

Prana Capital Management LP lowered its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 95.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,776 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 65,475 shares during the period. Prana Capital Management LP's holdings in Waste Management were worth $560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. The trade was a 18.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,902,246.40. This represents a 12.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 79,522 shares of company stock valued at $18,084,124. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.6%

WM stock traded up $1.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $233.27. 719,389 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,752,974. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $239.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $228.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $221.80. The company has a market capitalization of $93.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.30, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.75 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WM. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $243.29.

About Waste Management

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.