Meridian Financial Partners LLC Makes New $205,000 Investment in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Meridian Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $784,486,000. Mirova US LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 26,116.4% in the fourth quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 913,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $163,680,000 after acquiring an additional 910,418 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 40.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,923,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $523,581,000 after acquiring an additional 844,298 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter worth about $117,299,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 13,927.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,319,000 after buying an additional 500,701 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock traded up $0.67 on Friday, reaching $213.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,908,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,972,412. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $214.54. The company has a market capitalization of $85.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $208.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $199.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on WM shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,324,156.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate 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.