Voloridge Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 26.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 604,776 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 217,583 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $122,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 36.9% during the 4th quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 179,212 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,163,000 after purchasing an additional 48,260 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 71,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,473,000 after purchasing an additional 3,955 shares during the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 38,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,721,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Sone Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $24,919,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 190.5% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 24,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,040,000 after purchasing an additional 16,377 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 3,094 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $705,772.34. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 53,663 shares in the company, valued at $12,241,066.93. This trade represents a 5.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 79,522 shares of company stock valued at $18,084,124 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $231.87 on Tuesday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $228.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.80. The stock has a market cap of $93.31 billion, a PE ratio of 34.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $239.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. CIBC raised their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.29.

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.