Little House Capital LLC Trims Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Little House Capital LLC reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,845 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 348 shares during the period. Little House Capital LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 33,744 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,809,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191 shares during the last quarter. bLong Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $378,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 57.8% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 273 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Waste Management by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,349,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $227.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $91.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $230.39. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $212.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $212.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,185,967.59. This trade represents a 17.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on WM shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Nine equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.94.

Waste Management 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.