Two Sigma Investments LP Sells 75,771 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Two Sigma Investments LP trimmed its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 588,355 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 75,771 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP owned 0.15% of Waste Management worth $118,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total transaction of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,246.40. This trade represents a 12.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 3,094 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 53,663 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold 79,522 shares of company stock worth $18,084,124 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $229.76 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $228.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $239.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.79, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced 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. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WM. Citigroup increased their target price on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. 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 report on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.