Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Purchased by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 41.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,835 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 101.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 133 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the third quarter worth $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. UBS Group raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $232.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $254.59.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $231.18 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $231.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $220.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $248.13. The company has a market capitalization of $93.24 billion, a PE ratio of 34.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.57.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 56.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 7,352 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.50, for a total transaction of $1,724,044.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,540 shares in the company, valued at $3,644,130. This represents a 32.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 30,390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.36, for a total value of $7,000,640.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 225,793 shares in the company, valued at $52,013,675.48. This trade represents a 11.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.