one8zero8 LLC Invests $217,000 in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

one8zero8 LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,686,203,000 after purchasing an additional 168,818 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after buying an additional 1,151,237 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 0.7% in the 4th 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. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,961,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $597,614,000 after purchasing an additional 157,082 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $225.06 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $90.50 billion, a PE ratio of 33.10, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $220.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.35. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $235.81.

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 37.93%. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors 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 1.47%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on WM shares. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James raised their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. The trade was a 12.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by 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.