Advisors Preferred LLC Lowers Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Advisors Preferred LLC trimmed its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 60.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,078 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 13,931 shares during the period. Advisors Preferred LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 1.3% during the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group lifted its stake in Waste Management by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 801 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Mendel Money Management boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 2,903 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $641,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canton Hathaway LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 0.5% during the third quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 9,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,130,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Robert W. Baird raised Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $238.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce decreased their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $231.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Waste Management from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 5,706 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.87, for a total value of $1,317,344.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 220,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,811,485.69. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.63, for a total transaction of $94,001.64. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,245,497.12. This trade represents a 4.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 62,746 shares of company stock worth $14,470,494. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $230.07 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $224.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $219.38. The company has a market capitalization of $92.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.58. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $242.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.Waste Management’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.