Midwest Capital Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 363 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $73,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $1,605,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,269,000. World Equity Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 121.4% in the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 3,018 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,655 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 31,621 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,381,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MONECO Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 4,812 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $971,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. Raymond James raised their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.94.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:WM opened at $227.89 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $213.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.63 billion, a PE ratio of 33.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $230.39. 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 (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. Research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. This is a positive change 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 44.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares in the company, valued at $13,052,881.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.