Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Makes New Investment in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 21,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,269,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 65.7% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total transaction of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at $10,046,109.78. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.94.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of WM opened at $227.89 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $213.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.07. The stock has a market cap of $91.63 billion, a PE ratio of 33.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 44.12%.

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.