Obermeyer Wealth Partners Grows Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Obermeyer Wealth Partners increased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,845 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners’ holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,794,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 250.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,658,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,716,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,905 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,265,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $205,506,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on 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 owns 85,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,158,100.47. The trade was a 18.34% 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, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total value of $1,304,087.32. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 55,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,646,598.37. This trade represents a 9.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 79,522 shares of company stock valued at $18,084,124. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on WM. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Hsbc Global Res raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.29.

Waste Management Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $225.41 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $90.71 billion, a PE ratio of 33.15, a P/E/G 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $228.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.37. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $239.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.75 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.77%.

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.