Dark Forest Capital Management LP Raises Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 148.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,900 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,330 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP's holdings in Waste Management were worth $787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 609 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,091 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,046,109.78. This represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $228.45. 1,493,024 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,648,065. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $227.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $219.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $239.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Waste Management's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.825 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WM. Citigroup increased their price target on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $239.28.

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.