Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY Increases Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB raised its position 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 worth $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4.4% during the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,409 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 10,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 57.6% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 364 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. lifted its position in Waste Management by 31.1% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 6,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 1,422 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,349,728.38. This represents a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total transaction of $1,304,087.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 55,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,646,598.37. This trade represents a 9.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,192 shares of company stock worth $15,025,861 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on WM. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $232.83 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $215.71 and its 200 day moving average is $213.89. The stock has a market cap of $93.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $233.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

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.