Baring Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Baring Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 2,074 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $419,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter worth about $36,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. William Blair began coverage on Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus increased their target price 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. Finally, Scotiabank raised Waste Management from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.39.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $209.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $184.72 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $212.43 and a 200-day moving average of $211.29. The company has a market capitalization of $84.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 45.87%.

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.