Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Position Increased by Mystic Asset Management Inc.

Mystic Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 179.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,367 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,067 shares during the period. Waste Management comprises 1.1% of Mystic Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Mystic Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $56,135,000 after buying an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $99,759,000 after purchasing an additional 28,266 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 79,192 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,980,000 after purchasing an additional 4,798 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WM. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC raised their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock traded down $2.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $224.76. 2,535,970 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,532,040. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $235.81. The firm has a market cap of $90.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $222.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $215.82. 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 (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,212,664.23. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.