Blair William & Co. IL Purchases 42,684 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 69.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 103,824 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,684 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $20,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. CIBC lifted their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock opened at $229.16 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $224.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $235.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.15 billion, a PE ratio of 33.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly 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 37.93%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 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.