Diversified Trust Co Has $1.31 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Diversified Trust Co trimmed its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,488 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 543 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 62.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.72.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM opened at $206.28 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $82.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.54, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $215.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.42. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $177.38 and a twelve month high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The business had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 45.87%.

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.