Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Acquired by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,668,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 277,250 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 1.41% of Waste Management worth $1,250,613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 47.0% during the third quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 44,146 shares in the company, valued at $10,674,944.26. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 12,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.48, for a total transaction of $2,847,055.12. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 6,024 shares in the company, valued at $1,406,483.52. This represents a 66.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group upgraded Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Waste Management from $266.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. DZ Bank started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.55.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $238.61 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $194.11 and a 12-month high of $248.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $229.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $220.36.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly 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). Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.The business had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.25%.

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.