Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Has $20.23 Million Stake in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 92,095 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,325 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $20,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cypress Wealth Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 33,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,342,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 202,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,586,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 10,167 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,234,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 11,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,477,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on WM. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $254.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.83, for a total transaction of $1,165,136.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 78,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,084,739.94. This represents a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total value of $4,171,464.31. Following the transaction, the vice president 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $225.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $90.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.59, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.57. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month 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 50 day moving average price is $232.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.80.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.42%.

Waste Management Company 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.