Clare Market Investments LLC Makes New $2.07 Million Investment in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Clare Market Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,067,000. Waste Management makes up about 0.5% of Clare Market Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 168,818 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew 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 worth $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,897,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $803,819,000 after purchasing an additional 25,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.6% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,995,045.36. This trade represents a 1.44 % 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 75,173 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,967. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $229.51 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $235.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $218.22 and its 200-day moving average is $214.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.75, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.825 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Waste Management Company 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.