Motiv8 Investments LLC Buys Shares of 5,127 Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 5,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $857,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 3.9% in the third quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 1.9% during the third quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.94.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,192 shares of company stock worth $15,025,861 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $228.64 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $232.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.62, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $214.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $213.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. As a group, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors 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 1.44%. 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 currently 48.53%.

Waste Management Company 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.