Certuity LLC Increases Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Certuity LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,686,203,000 after purchasing an additional 168,818 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after buying an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $505,175,000 after acquiring an additional 276,287 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 18,531 shares in the company, valued at $4,185,967.59. This represents a 17.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.3 %

Waste Management stock opened at $227.42 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $194.20 and a 1-year high of $230.39. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $211.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.44, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the subject of a number of research reports. CIBC boosted their price target on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Ten investment 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.50.

Waste Management Profile

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.