Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC Buys 90 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC raised its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,460 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the quarter. Waste Management accounts for about 1.0% of Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $784,486,000. Mirova US LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 26,116.4% in the fourth quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 913,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $163,680,000 after purchasing an additional 910,418 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Waste Management by 40.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,923,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $523,581,000 after purchasing an additional 844,298 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the first quarter valued at about $117,299,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 13,927.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,319,000 after buying an additional 500,701 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on WM. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.61.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $212.61. The company had a trading volume of 1,762,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,721,490. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $149.71 and a one year high of $214.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $207.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $199.32. The firm has a market cap of $85.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.78, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total value of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.