Boston Common Asset Management LLC Buys 4,588 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Boston Common Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,379 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,588 shares during the quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $14,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Sprott Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter worth approximately $325,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.1% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 54,773 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,533,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 22,079 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 121 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.27, for a total value of $29,677.67. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,293 shares in the company, valued at $2,279,294.11. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total transaction of $4,171,464.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 44,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,674,944.26. The trade was a 28.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Waste Management from $232.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Friday, March 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.59.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $229.79 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $92.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.57. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $248.13. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $232.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $220.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $6.31 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.945 dividend. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.42%.

Waste Management Profile

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.