Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. Acquires 105 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,723 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Waste Management makes up about 2.0% of Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WM. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,686,203,000 after buying an additional 168,818 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after acquiring an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 12.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,175,000 after purchasing an additional 276,287 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $226.78 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $91.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.48 and a 12-month high of $230.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $211.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.53.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total transaction of $152,868.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,046,109.78. This represents a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WM shares. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.50.

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.