National Bank of Canada FI Boosts Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 26.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 907,529 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 188,983 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.23% of Waste Management worth $183,180,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. CIBC upped 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 downgraded Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective 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 research 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $236.65.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,014,446.72. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. This trade represents a 18.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $234.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,410,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,618,695. 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 fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $235.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.35 billion, a PE ratio of 34.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $225.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $217.10.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.53%.

Waste Management Company 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.