Simmons Bank Sells 100 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Simmons Bank reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,632 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WM. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after acquiring an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $374,062,000 after purchasing an additional 437,613 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 138.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $149,168,000 after purchasing an additional 416,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Waste Management by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,294,071.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,424,457.04. This represents a 7.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at $10,046,109.78. This represents a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,192 shares of company stock worth $15,025,861 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective 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. Nine research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $229.73 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $215.17 and a 200-day moving average of $213.69. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $232.44. The stock has a market cap of $92.38 billion, a PE ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

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.