Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Sells 2,928 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,780 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,928 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $20,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WM. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $236.65.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were 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 trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock traded up $1.50 on Tuesday, reaching $233.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 492,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,638,698. The company has a market capitalization of $93.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.27, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $235.81. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $224.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $216.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

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.