Mengis Capital Management Inc. Has $1.32 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Mengis Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 755 shares during the quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Waste Management by 65.7% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on WM shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 60,460 shares of company stock worth $13,721,774. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $229.70 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $213.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.29. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $230.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.12%.

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.