Portfolio Design Labs LLC Has $460,000 Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC grew its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 117.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,279 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% during 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 period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after acquiring an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,063,072,000 after acquiring an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $374,062,000 after acquiring an additional 437,613 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 138.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $149,168,000 after acquiring an additional 416,579 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.50.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $226.78 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $187.48 and a one year high of $230.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $211.85 and a 200-day moving average of $211.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $91.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 44.12%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related 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 transaction of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total transaction of $152,868.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,046,109.78. This represents a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.