Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,062,824 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 146,782 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.51% of Waste Management worth $416,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted 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 period. Maia Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,091 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,511 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,717,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James lifted their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Nine equities research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.76.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on WM
Insider Activity
In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,294,071.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,424,457.04. This trade represents a 7.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Waste Management Trading Up 0.9 %
Shares of Waste Management stock traded up $2.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $231.53. The stock had a trading volume of 243,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,634,018. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $218.28. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $239.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $93.15 billion, a PE ratio of 34.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.
Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Waste Management Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. This is a boost from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.53%.
About Waste Management
(
Free Report)
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.
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