Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd Has $2.83 Million Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd trimmed its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 32.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,780 shares during the period. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $89,000. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $624,000. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 231,987 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,813,000 after buying an additional 9,014 shares during the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 36.4% in the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 2,078 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clune & Associates LTD. bought a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $501,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at $48,212,664.23. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,052,881.80. This trade 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 have sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of WM opened at $226.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $90.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $235.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $223.07 and a 200 day moving average of $216.03.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 48.53%.

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.