Richardson Financial Services Inc. Acquires 69 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 65.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $35,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $262,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,861,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares during the period. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 96,028 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,377,000 after purchasing an additional 1,211 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,269,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its stake in Waste Management by 81.3% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 15,093 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,046,000 after buying an additional 6,770 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WM. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $220.10 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.77. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $184.72 and a 12-month 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $212.19 and a 200-day moving average of $211.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

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.