Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Acquired by GPM Growth Investors Inc.

GPM Growth Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 144.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,522 shares during the quarter. GPM Growth Investors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WM. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 168,818 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 11.3% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after acquiring an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,961,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $597,614,000 after acquiring an additional 157,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 12.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,175,000 after acquiring an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $230.55 on Thursday. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $217.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $214.49. The company has a market cap of $92.71 billion, a PE ratio of 33.90, a P/E/G 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 $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WM. Scotiabank raised their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC raised their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,547 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $352,886.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 44,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,045,280.07. The trade was a 3.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 75,173 shares of company stock worth $17,075,967. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.