PKS Advisory Services LLC Makes New Investment in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

PKS Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,264 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,526,823,000 after acquiring an additional 538,567 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 2.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 168,818 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,265,629,000 after buying an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted 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 valued at $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,897,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $803,819,000 after buying an additional 25,801 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upped their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. CIBC boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.5 %

WM opened at $227.26 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $216.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total transaction of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at $10,046,109.78. This represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.