Graham Capital Management L.P. Purchases New Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 18,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,650,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,526,823,000 after acquiring an additional 538,567 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,654,173,000 after buying an additional 64,260 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after buying an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $1,009,726,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $822,588,000 after purchasing an additional 224,279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,158,100.47. This represents a 18.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 4,126 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $941,181.86. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,288,582.29. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 79,522 shares of company stock worth $18,084,124. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.0 %

WM stock opened at $233.03 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $239.32. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $228.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $221.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.27, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.29.

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.