Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Bought by Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,933 shares during the quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $9,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 12,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,869,000 after acquiring an additional 1,766 shares during the period. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $311,000. Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. now owns 5,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the period. Graphene Investments SAS raised its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Graphene Investments SAS now owns 16,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,647,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Finally, Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV raised its holdings in Waste Management by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV now owns 9,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,031,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,818 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.83, for a total value of $1,165,136.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 78,918 shares in the company, valued at $19,084,739.94. This represents a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total transaction of $4,171,464.31. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 44,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,674,944.26. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Waste Management from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.64.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.0%

WM opened at $223.97 on Monday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $248.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $233.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.12. The company has a market cap of $90.24 billion, a PE ratio of 33.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.The company had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.945 dividend. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.42%.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.