Donaldson Capital Management LLC Raises Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,096 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,634 shares during the quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,073,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,741,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $361,450,000 after buying an additional 122,696 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter worth $944,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,077 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 217.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,764 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,064,000 after buying an additional 10,109 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $227.72 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $218.73 and a 200-day moving average of $214.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $91.57 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 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 forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a boost 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,446.72. This trade represents 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, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on WM shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC increased their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

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.