9,847 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Purchased by Lbp Am Sa

Lbp Am Sa bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,847 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,987,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in 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 lifted its stake in Waste Management by 892.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total transaction of $152,868.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at $10,046,109.78. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WM. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM opened at $225.06 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $220.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $235.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.50 billion, a PE ratio of 33.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 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%. As a group, 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 $0.825 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 48.53%.

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.