Magnus Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Magnus Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,670 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Magnus Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,526,823,000 after buying an additional 538,567 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $1,654,173,000 after purchasing an additional 64,260 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,151,237 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,009,726,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.8% during 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WM. HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. National Bank Financial upgraded Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 26th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 16,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $236.33 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $231.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $223.44. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $242.58. The company has a market capitalization of $95.10 billion, a PE ratio of 34.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.77%.

About Waste Management

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.