Fulcrum Capital LLC Sells 336 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Fulcrum Capital LLC cut its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 336 shares during the period. Waste Management accounts for 2.5% of Fulcrum Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Fulcrum Capital LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $11,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WM. Banque Pictet & Cie SA raised its holdings in Waste Management by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 1,869,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $377,184,000 after purchasing an additional 11,940 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 278,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,929,000 after buying an additional 8,914 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 252,022 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,856,000 after buying an additional 23,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 81.3% during the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 15,093 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,046,000 after acquiring an additional 6,770 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of WM opened at $241.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $241.68. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $230.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.79.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. This represents a 18.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 87,947 shares of company stock worth $20,536,508. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. National Bank Financial upgraded Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.06.

Waste Management 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.