Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Bought by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 82,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $16,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in 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 buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.3 %

Waste Management stock opened at $228.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.59. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $230.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 44.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,185,967.59. This represents a 17.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

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.