Heritage Trust Co Takes $365,000 Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Heritage Trust Co bought a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,808 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WM. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 609 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Argent Trust Co increased its stake in Waste Management by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 14,384 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,903,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $232,000. Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 644,530 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $130,070,000 after buying an additional 41,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 1,656 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE WM traded down $1.90 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $229.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,778,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,752,927. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $239.32. The stock has a market cap of $92.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $227.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $218.56.

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Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is a boost from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. This represents a 18.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total transaction of $282,625.92. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. This trade represents a 12.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WM shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.76.

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.