Stevens Capital Management LP Invests $214,000 in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,061 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.1% during the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 9,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,992 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $461,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the third quarter valued at $215,000. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 7.1% during the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 6,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after buying an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC lifted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. This trade represents a 12.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.6 %

Waste Management stock opened at $226.17 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 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 $235.81. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $223.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $216.03. The stock has a market cap of $90.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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.