First National Bank of Hutchinson Has $755,000 Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

First National Bank of Hutchinson raised its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $99,759,000 after acquiring an additional 28,266 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in Waste Management by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 79,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,980,000 after acquiring an additional 4,798 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. 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, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $227.37 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $221.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.65. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $235.81. The company has a market capitalization of $91.43 billion, a PE ratio of 33.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total transaction of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at $10,046,109.78. This represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,446.72. This trade represents a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management 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.