Everence Capital Management Inc. Sells 4,190 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 21.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,190 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,397 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,295,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,484,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 60,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,790,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 26,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,699,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004 shares during the period. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $442,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total transaction of $1,738,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,838 shares in the company, valued at $27,816,516. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,057 shares of company stock worth $5,895,870 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $211.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.85.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of WM stock traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $204.98. 1,447,493 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,687,320. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.71 and a 12-month high of $214.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $205.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 53.00%.

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.