Ninety One North America Inc. Purchases 734 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Ninety One North America Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 100,008 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 734 shares during the quarter. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $20,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $857,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners raised its position in Waste Management by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 1,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Werlinich Asset Management LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 4,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $910,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $223.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $89.62 billion, a PE ratio of 32.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.20 and a fifty-two week high of $230.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.24.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted 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 38.88%. Analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 44.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,653 shares of company stock worth $364,287 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.50.

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.