First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 644 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. cut its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 60,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 644 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up 2.4% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $10,855,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. abrdn plc raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 315.7% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,457,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $222,165,000 after buying an additional 1,106,773 shares during the last quarter. Mirova US LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 26,116.4% during the 4th quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 913,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $163,680,000 after purchasing an additional 910,418 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Waste Management by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $827,815,000 after purchasing an additional 776,491 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its holdings in Waste Management by 128.2% during the 3rd quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 898,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $137,012,000 after purchasing an additional 504,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 13,927.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $90,319,000 after purchasing an additional 500,701 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total value of $363,937.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 55,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,353,349.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:WM opened at $210.07 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54. The company has a market cap of $84.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $208.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.87.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.21.

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.