Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Bought by Central Bank & Trust Co.

Central Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 333.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,493 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Waste Management Stock Down 1.6%

NYSE WM opened at $227.60 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $231.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $91.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.57. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $194.11 and a one year high of $248.13.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WM. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $273.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $256.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $254.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 12,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.48, for a total transaction of $2,847,055.12. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 6,024 shares in the company, valued at $1,406,483.52. The trade was a 66.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total value of $4,171,464.31. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 44,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,674,944.26. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.