Cape ANN Savings Bank Trims Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Cape ANN Savings Bank lowered its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Cape ANN Savings Bank’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 65.7% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective 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. CIBC upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James raised their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,185,967.59. This represents a 17.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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 owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,046,109.78. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE WM opened at $227.89 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $213.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.12. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $230.39. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $91.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.51, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 44.12%.

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.