Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Sells 79 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,626 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 79 shares during the quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Waste Management by 67.2% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after acquiring an additional 709,678 shares during the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management in the third quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Waste Management by 1,036.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 115,595 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,998,000 after acquiring an additional 105,423 shares during the last quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 10,366.7% in the third quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 314 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its stake in Waste Management by 16.0% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 18,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,185,967.59. The trade was a 17.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock opened at $227.89 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $91.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.51, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $230.39. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $213.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.07.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. On average, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 44.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.94.

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.