Motiv8 Investments LLC Takes Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,686,203,000 after buying an additional 168,818 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during 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 buying an additional 280,455 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,961,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $597,614,000 after buying an additional 157,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 12.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,175,000 after buying an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,349,728.38. This represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,192 shares of company stock valued at $15,025,861 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WM shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $228.64 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $232.44. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.58. 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 capitalization of $91.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.62, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.825 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

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.