Blair William & Co. IL Increases Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 69.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 103,824 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 42,684 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in Waste Management were worth $20,951,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. CIBC upped their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $236.65.

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Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM traded up $1.93 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $233.44. 448,770 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,637,836. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $235.81. The company has a market cap of $93.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.33, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $224.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.79. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.