Legal & General Group Plc Trims Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,612,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 30,157 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $573,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.27, for a total value of $29,677.67. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,279,294.11. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 78,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,084,739.94. This trade represents a 5.75% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 35,296 shares of company stock worth $8,569,283 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $218.09 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $248.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $226.59 and a 200-day moving average of $223.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 54.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.67.

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.