Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 20,029 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 34.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,524 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 20,029 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $7,572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,866 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 609 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,039 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maia Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:WM opened at $228.28 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $227.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $239.32. The firm has a market cap of $91.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.57, 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.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their price target on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total transaction of $152,868.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,046,109.78. This represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.

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