Midwest Professional Planners LTD. Purchases 176 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Midwest Professional Planners LTD. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 15,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 176 shares during the quarter. Waste Management accounts for approximately 0.9% of Midwest Professional Planners LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Midwest Professional Planners LTD.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 509.6% during the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,892,000 after purchasing an additional 24,410 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,939,638 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $391,400,000 after purchasing an additional 137,796 shares in the last quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 12,356 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,493,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. LBP AM SA purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $1,987,000. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,246.40. The trade was a 12.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $222.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $89.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $220.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $215.15. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on WM shares. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James raised their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

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.