Coordinated Financial Services Inc. Invests $296,000 in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Coordinated Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi lifted its stake in Waste Management by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,897,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $803,819,000 after acquiring an additional 25,801 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 6,532 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,318,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $528,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 6,626 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,337,000 after buying an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.6 %

WM stock opened at $229.51 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $235.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $92.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.75, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $218.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $214.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. Research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped 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. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,547 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $352,886.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 44,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,045,280.07. This trade represents a 3.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 75,173 shares of company stock worth $17,075,967 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.