Maple Capital Management Inc. Purchases New Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Maple Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $386,000.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James raised their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup raised their price target on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.4 %

WM stock opened at $232.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $215.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $213.89. The company has a market cap of $93.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $233.04.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. Analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction 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 approximately $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 66,192 shares of company stock worth $15,025,861. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.