Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $5.64 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 21.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 31,472 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,472 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HTLF Bank bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $570,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 50.4% during the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,579 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $820,000 after buying an additional 1,534 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd now owns 37,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,664,000 after acquiring an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,363 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $781,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One North America Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 71,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,736,000 after purchasing an additional 18,651 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,448.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.0 %

WM stock opened at $207.12 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $207.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.59, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.54. 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 (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 earned $1.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 53.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on WM. HSBC lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $211.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.85.

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.