Mizuho Securities USA LLC Acquires 10,936 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 46.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,617 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,936 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,039 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Maia Wealth LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,091 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 0.6% during 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WM. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM traded up $1.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $227.26. The stock had a trading volume of 931,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,532,024. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.38 billion, a PE ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $235.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $223.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $216.03.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. Analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Waste Management's payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

About Waste Management

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.