Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas Increases Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas lifted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 320 shares during the quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings in Waste Management were worth $624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 2,588,842 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after acquiring an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 520,096 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 32.1% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $374,062,000 after purchasing an additional 437,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Waste Management by 138.0% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $149,168,000 after purchasing an additional 416,579 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.3 %

WM opened at $209.43 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $212.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.27. The firm has a market cap of $84.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $183.00 and a 52 week high of $230.39. 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 quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The business had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WM. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 target price on the stock. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.72.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.