Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by First Hawaiian Bank

First Hawaiian Bank lowered its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 724 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WM. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588,842 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 20,402.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 868,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,196,000 after buying an additional 863,846 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after acquiring an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $374,062,000 after acquiring an additional 437,613 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.4 %

WM opened at $206.28 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $177.38 and a twelve month high of $230.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $214.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.38. The firm has a market cap of $82.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. Waste Management’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 45.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on WM shares. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.72.

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.