Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Takes $1.61 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 7,954 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,605,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Waste Management during the third quarter worth approximately $366,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 8.9% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 86,096 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,874,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares in the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 140.9% during the third quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 2,361 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $491,000 after purchasing an additional 1,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orrstown Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management during the third quarter worth approximately $643,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WM. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. CIBC raised their target price on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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 report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group increased their price target on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.94.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $230.59 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $232.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.72 billion, a PE ratio of 33.91, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. 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 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.12%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total value of $1,304,087.32. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 55,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,646,598.37. This trade represents a 9.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 66,192 shares of company stock worth $15,025,861. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.