Aspiriant LLC Boosts Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Aspiriant LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,855 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 91 shares during the quarter. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after acquiring an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 32.1% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $374,062,000 after purchasing an additional 437,613 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Waste Management by 138.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $149,168,000 after buying an additional 416,579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WM. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair assumed coverage on Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.72.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $212.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $85.40 billion, a PE ratio of 32.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $213.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.27. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $182.93 and a 12 month high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. Waste Management’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.87%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Company Profile

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.