Chesapeake Wealth Management Has $278,000 Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Chesapeake Wealth Management trimmed its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,379 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $278,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,686,203,000 after acquiring an additional 168,818 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 11.3% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after acquiring an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $969,401,000 after buying an additional 12,664 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Waste Management by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,846,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $820,539,000 after buying an additional 243,900 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. William Blair started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target 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. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.72.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $211.79 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $213.80 and its 200 day moving average is $211.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $85.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.77. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $181.56 and a one year high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 45.87%.

About Waste Management

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.