Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Acquired by Hall Laurie J Trustee

Hall Laurie J Trustee grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,355 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the quarter. Waste Management comprises approximately 1.7% of Hall Laurie J Trustee’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Hall Laurie J Trustee’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $538,013,000 after acquiring an additional 2,588,842 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after acquiring an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 32.1% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $374,062,000 after buying an additional 437,613 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Waste Management by 138.0% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $149,168,000 after buying an additional 416,579 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.4 %

WM stock opened at $211.79 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $213.80 and its 200-day moving average is $211.25. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $181.56 and a 1-year high of $230.39. The firm has a market cap of $85.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 45.87%.

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.