Sava Infond d.o.o. Invests $1.36 Million in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sava Infond d.o.o. bought a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 6,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,360,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Waste Management by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 607,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $122,521,000 after purchasing an additional 43,218 shares during the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 3,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp boosted its position in Waste Management by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 11,790 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,379,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Ipsen Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $687,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $559,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,446.72. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $228.90 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.04 billion, a PE ratio of 33.66, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $223.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $216.28. 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.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James raised their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

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.