Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA Decreases Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA decreased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 404,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 55,613 shares during the period. Waste Management makes up approximately 1.0% of Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA owned 0.10% of Waste Management worth $88,807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Old Port Advisors grew its holdings in Waste Management by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 16,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,727,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $851,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 801 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Mendel Money Management grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.8% in the third quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 2,903 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canton Hathaway LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.5% in the third quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 9,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,130,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target (down from $254.00) on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Waste Management from $232.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.59.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total value of $4,171,464.31. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 44,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,674,944.26. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 121 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.27, for a total value of $29,677.67. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,279,294.11. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of WM opened at $231.02 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $232.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.04. The company has a market cap of $93.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $248.13.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.945 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 56.42%.

Waste Management Company Profile

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.