Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by Transcend Capital Advisors LLC

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $692,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Waste Management by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,963,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,061,521,000 after acquiring an additional 46,084 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $827,815,000 after buying an additional 776,491 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,213,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $794,174,000 after buying an additional 66,816 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,065,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $619,797,000 after buying an additional 90,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,446,103 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $372,886,000 after buying an additional 9,001 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on WM shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.21.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE WM opened at $210.10 on Monday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.27 billion, a PE ratio of 34.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $208.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.29.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.10%.

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.