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

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WM. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 286.2% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 421 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 20,758 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,195,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486 shares during the last quarter. Country Club Bank boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Country Club Bank now owns 4,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $956,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 52,176 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,604,000 after buying an additional 2,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jericho Financial LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $4,411,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,055 shares of company stock valued at $2,674,780 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WM. Argus upped their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.50.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock opened at $224.77 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $211.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The stock has a market cap of $90.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.48 and a 52-week high of $230.39.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.