Everett Harris & Co. CA Buys 1,455 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Everett Harris & Co. CA increased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 78.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 51.8% in the 3rd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 211 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on WM. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.61.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.0 %

Waste Management stock opened at $220.10 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $184.72 and a 52-week high of $230.39. The company has a market cap of $88.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results 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 38.88%. Analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by 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.