Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 28,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,172 shares during the quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WM. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the third quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Iowa State Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,754,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 417.3% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Finally, FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH increased its stake in Waste Management by 2.4% during the third quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 10,885 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,260,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the subject of several research reports. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. CIBC upped their target price on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.50.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $224.94 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.48 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $211.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $211.44. The firm has a market cap of $90.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.08, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78.

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 return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 44.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total transaction of $903,560.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340. 0.18% of the stock is owned by 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.