Sit Investment Associates Inc. Raises Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $7,761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th 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. acquired a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WM. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. CIBC boosted their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Trading Down 4.9 %

Shares of WM opened at $225.34 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $217.45. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $239.32. 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 $90.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

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.