178 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Acquired by Sierra Ocean LLC

Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $36,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % 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, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $228.38 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $91.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $212.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $230.39.

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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 44.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on WM. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.94.

About Waste Management

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.