MBA Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

MBA Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,633 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the quarter. MBA Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WM. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,686,203,000 after acquiring an additional 168,818 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% during the 4th 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 period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $505,175,000 after buying an additional 276,287 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.0 %

Waste Management stock opened at $224.94 on Monday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.48 and a fifty-two week high of $230.39. The company has a market cap of $90.28 billion, a PE ratio of 33.08, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $211.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total transaction of $152,868.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at $10,046,109.78. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James increased their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Ten 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.50.

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.