HTLF Bank Invests $570,000 in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

HTLF Bank bought a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $570,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Drake & Associates LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Peoples Financial Services CORP. grew its position in Waste Management by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 3,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its position in Waste Management by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 2,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its position in Waste Management by 1.7% during the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 3,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $592,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. HSBC lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total transaction of $69,075.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,641.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total transaction of $69,075.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,641.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of WM opened at $207.12 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $207.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.96. The company has a market capitalization of $83.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.00%.

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.