Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 17,148 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 23.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,148 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $18,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on WM. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective 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, Raymond James increased their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total transaction of $282,625.92. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,246.40. The trade was a 12.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of WM opened at $227.72 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $235.81. The company has a market capitalization of $91.57 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $218.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $214.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

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.