Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by Choreo LLC

Choreo LLC boosted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 53.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,767 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Drake & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Peoples Financial Services CORP. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 3,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc lifted its stake in Waste Management by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 1,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 2,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $208.01 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The company has a market cap of $83.43 billion, a PE ratio of 34.04, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $208.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.04. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.71 and a 52-week high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.19 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. HSBC cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total transaction of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,262,034.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total transaction of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,262,034.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total transaction of $153,899.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,934,010.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.