Amalgamated Bank Has $17.21 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Amalgamated Bank lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,907 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $17,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 25.2% during the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 814 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 1.9% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 3,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 13.0% in the third quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.0% during the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 197,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,122,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BLB&B Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 54,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,345,000 after acquiring an additional 2,941 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total transaction of $653,329.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,262,034.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total transaction of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at $7,262,034.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM traded up $0.72 on Friday, reaching $207.88. 2,219,746 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,683,213. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.30. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $214.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $83.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Waste Management’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WM. HSBC lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.24.

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.