Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Reduces Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lessened its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 71 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,963,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,061,521,000 after purchasing an additional 46,084 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $827,815,000 after purchasing an additional 776,491 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,213,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $794,174,000 after purchasing an additional 66,816 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $784,486,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,065,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $619,797,000 after purchasing an additional 90,129 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,611 shares of company stock worth $546,839. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Waste Management stock traded down $0.68 on Friday, reaching $208.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,270,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,614,986. The company has a market capitalization of $83.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $209.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $193.83. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $214.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WM shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. CIBC increased their target price on Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.61.

Waste Management 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.