Little House Capital LLC Sells 788 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Little House Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 788 shares during the period. Little House Capital LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Rational Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $1,844,111.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 95,461 shares in the company, valued at $19,804,339.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.2 %

Waste Management stock traded down $2.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $210.10. The stock had a trading volume of 1,650,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,589,993. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.54. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.31 billion, a PE ratio of 34.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.10%.

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.