Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Purchases 1,823 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 291,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,823 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Waste Management worth $58,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Balboa Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 1,343 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 6,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Waste Management by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 80,968 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,921 shares during the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its position in Waste Management by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 33,619 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tredje AP fonden lifted its stake in Waste Management by 73.8% during the fourth quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 78,212 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,782,000 after purchasing an additional 33,212 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $222.92 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $220.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $215.15. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $235.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.64 billion, a PE ratio of 32.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

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.