Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by Weatherly Asset Management L. P.

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. boosted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 110,979 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,803 shares during the period. Waste Management accounts for 2.0% of Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $22,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $538,013,000 after acquiring an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Waste Management by 67.2% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 11.3% in 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 buying an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 32.1% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $374,062,000 after buying an additional 437,613 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Waste Management by 138.0% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $149,168,000 after buying an additional 416,579 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on WM shares. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Argus raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.50.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:WM opened at $225.95 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.48 and a fifty-two week high of $230.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $211.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.35. The stock has a market cap of $90.69 billion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 44.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.