SVB Wealth LLC Buys New Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 32,149 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,487,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after acquiring an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,409 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 10,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 57.6% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 364 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, HM Payson & Co. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 6,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after acquiring an additional 1,422 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $232.83 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $233.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of Waste Management 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at $48,212,664.23. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,192 shares of company stock valued at $15,025,861 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.