Davis R M Inc. Has $395,000 Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Davis R M Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 46.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,958 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 621 shares during the quarter. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $340,611,000. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Waste Management by 67.2% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after buying an additional 520,096 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 138.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $149,168,000 after buying an additional 416,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,668,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $224.25 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $235.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $219.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.04. The company has a market capitalization of $90.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. 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 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 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 48.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,246.40. This represents a 12.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.