900 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Bought by Disciplined Equity Management Inc.

Disciplined Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 900 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $161,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Waste Management by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,963,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,061,521,000 after purchasing an additional 46,084 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Waste Management by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $827,815,000 after purchasing an additional 776,491 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,213,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $794,174,000 after purchasing an additional 66,816 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,065,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $619,797,000 after buying an additional 90,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,446,103 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $372,886,000 after buying an additional 9,001 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. HSBC cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.85.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total value of $1,844,111.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 95,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,804,339.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE WM traded up $1.65 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $210.43. 1,828,674 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,665,506. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $208.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.32. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $149.71 and a one year high of $214.54. The company has a market cap of $84.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.21. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.00%.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity.