Plancorp LLC Acquires New Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Plancorp LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 67.2% in the third 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. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,499,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 46,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,557,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nwam LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $927,000 after buying an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $224.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $90.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $215.86. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 48.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WM. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine investment 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.