Private Advisor Group LLC Acquires 11,861 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 87,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,861 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $17,726,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 32.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 14,060 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,919,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 6,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,270,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ledyard National Bank raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 10.8% in the third quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 2,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.0 %

WM stock opened at $228.40 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $212.84 and a 200-day moving average of $212.70. The company has a market cap of $91.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.59, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $230.39. 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 (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 44.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total transaction of $903,560.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,185,967.59. This trade represents a 17.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold a total of 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on WM. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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 note on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, CIBC raised their target price on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

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.