Norden Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Norden Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,352 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,147 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in Waste Management by 892.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders have sold 66,192 shares of company stock worth $15,025,861 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.4 %

Waste Management stock opened at $232.83 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $233.04. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $215.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $213.96. The firm has a market cap of $93.63 billion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced 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%. Analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WM. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price 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. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

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.