Mission Wealth Management LP Increases Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Mission Wealth Management LP raised its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 811.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,102 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,103 shares during the quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,686,203,000 after buying an additional 168,818 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in 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 valued at $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Waste Management by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,961,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $597,614,000 after purchasing an additional 157,082 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in Waste Management by 12.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,175,000 after acquiring an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $233.53 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $216.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.21. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $235.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. 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. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target 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. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.94.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of Waste Management 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at $48,212,664.23. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,294,071.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,442 shares in the company, valued at $15,424,457.04. The trade was a 7.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,192 shares of company stock valued at $15,025,861 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.