Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 14.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,664 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 6.2% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after buying an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.4% during 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 during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective 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. Finally, CIBC raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine investment 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at $19,158,100.47. This trade represents a 18.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE WM opened at $234.64 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $235.81. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $225.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $217.10. 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 $94.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results 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%. Analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Waste Management 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.