Nilsine Partners LLC Takes $212,000 Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Nilsine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 995 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.7% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,053 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its stake in Waste Management by 0.6% in the first quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 9,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 1,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM traded down $4.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $208.01. The company had a trading volume of 2,243,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,682,581. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54. The firm has a market cap of $83.43 billion, a PE ratio of 34.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $208.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total value of $69,075.44. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,641.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total value of $69,075.44. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,641.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. HSBC downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.24.

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.