Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Bought by World Equity Group Inc.

World Equity Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 121.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,018 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,655 shares during the quarter. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $609,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 31,621 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,381,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 4,812 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $971,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,196 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,654,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,335,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. CIBC upped their price target on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock opened at $227.89 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $91.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $230.39. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $213.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.12.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,446.72. This trade represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340 over the last three months. Company 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.