21,859 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Acquired by Jericho Financial LLP

Jericho Financial LLP acquired a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 21,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,411,000. Waste Management accounts for approximately 3.2% of Jericho Financial LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in Waste Management by 892.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WM. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their price target on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,294,071.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 69,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,424,457.04. The trade was a 7.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,055 shares of company stock valued at $2,674,780. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:WM opened at $222.33 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.20 and a 52-week high of $230.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $212.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.25. The company has a market capitalization of $89.23 billion, a PE ratio of 32.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.12%.

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.