Okabena Investment Services Inc. Raises Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Okabena Investment Services Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Management during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 62.9% in the second quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WM shares. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Waste Management in a report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, CIBC raised their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.11.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:WM opened at $224.41 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $90.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $168.73 and a one year high of $226.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.10.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.87%.

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.