First National Corp MA ADV Lowers Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

First National Corp MA ADV reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 90 shares during the period. First National Corp MA ADV’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its position in Waste Management by 417.3% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $720,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 1,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 10.9% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 1,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 14.1% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,039,000 after acquiring an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 3,874 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $804,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. UBS Group increased their price target on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank increased their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This trade represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $224.94 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $211.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.39. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.48 and a 1-year high of $230.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. Equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.12%.

Waste Management Company 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.