Jones Financial Companies Lllp Purchases 7,342 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 106.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,254 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,342 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,127 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $99,759,000 after purchasing an additional 28,266 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its position in Waste Management by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 79,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,980,000 after buying an additional 4,798 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM opened at $230.55 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $217.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $214.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.71 billion, a PE ratio of 33.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 4,126 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total transaction of $941,181.86. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,639 shares in the company, valued at $14,288,582.29. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 75,173 shares of company stock worth $17,075,967. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WM. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.65.

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.