Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Stock Holdings Lowered by UMB Bank n.a.

UMB Bank n.a. lowered its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM – Get Rating) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 36,856 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,170 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,782,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 534.5% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,344 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $530,000 after buying an additional 2,817 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in Waste Management by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 53,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,411,000 after buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Waste Management by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 358,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,842,000 after buying an additional 2,309 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Waste Management by 83.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 680 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 44.8% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 33,030 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,234,000 after buying an additional 10,212 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Leslie K. Nagy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.11, for a total value of $120,888.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $787,283.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Leslie K. Nagy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.11, for a total value of $120,888.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,210 shares in the company, valued at $787,283.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 15,204 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.03, for a total value of $2,357,076.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 95,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,799,318.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,027 shares of company stock worth $4,806,619 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Waste Management from $157.00 to $151.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Waste Management from $167.00 to $158.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Waste Management from $167.00 to $166.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $190.00 to $165.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.50.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock opened at $153.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $138.89 and a one year high of $175.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.51 billion, a PE ratio of 28.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $152.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.14.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 32.91%. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 8th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 2.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.95%.

About Waste Management

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Waste Management, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of waste management environmental services. It operates through the following segments: East Tier, West Tier, and Other. The East Tier segment consists of Eastern U.S., the Great Lakes Region, and Canada. The West Tier segment includes the upper Midwest region and British Columbia, Canada.