Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Sells 599 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,633 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 599 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $847,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 6,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,643 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 2,299 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,192 shares of company stock valued at $15,025,861. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock opened at $233.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $93.91 billion, a PE ratio of 34.34, a P/E/G 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. The business has a 50 day moving average of $216.31 and a 200-day moving average of $214.21. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $235.81.

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%. 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WM. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. CIBC upped their price target on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

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.