Midwest Professional Planners LTD. Buys 176 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Midwest Professional Planners LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the quarter. Waste Management comprises approximately 0.9% of Midwest Professional Planners LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Midwest Professional Planners LTD.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Waste Management by 67.2% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in Waste Management by 7.6% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,741,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $361,450,000 after purchasing an additional 122,696 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 10.1% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,077 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 4.4% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,416 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its stake in Waste Management by 0.9% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 27,831 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,778,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James lifted 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, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $222.92 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-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’s 50 day moving average price is $220.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.15. The firm has a market cap of $89.64 billion, a PE ratio of 32.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. 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. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,212,664.23. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Company 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.