Coldstream Capital Management Inc. Buys 872 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 15,906 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $99,759,000 after purchasing an additional 28,266 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 79,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,980,000 after buying an additional 4,798 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.4 %

WM stock opened at $228.28 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $239.32. The company has a market cap of $91.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The business’s 50-day moving average is $227.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.825 dividend. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on WM. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. HSBC raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Friday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.28.

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.