1,200 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Acquired by Sharpepoint LLC

Sharpepoint LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $505,175,000 after buying an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 12,706 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,638,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 11,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,327,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 245.6% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 6,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the third quarter valued at about $562,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. The trade was a 18.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on WM. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer upped 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target 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 research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.76.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:WM opened at $230.84 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.95, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $239.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $227.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $219.04.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

About Waste Management

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.