Stonebrook Private Inc. Invests $202,000 in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Stonebrook Private Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 946 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,799,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $859,624,000 after purchasing an additional 16,213 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $784,486,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 40.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,997,367 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $357,729,000 after purchasing an additional 38,828 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Waste Management by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,931,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $345,851,000 after purchasing an additional 17,254 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. CIBC boosted their price target on Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.39.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE WM traded up $2.25 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $216.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,380,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,701,115. The business’s 50 day moving average is $208.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.39. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.71 and a 12-month high of $216.60. 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 firm has a market cap of $86.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at $9,324,156.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.