Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. Makes New Investment in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 9,504 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,702,000. Waste Management makes up 1.6% of Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new stake in Waste Management during the third quarter worth $35,000. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 40.1% in the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of a number of research reports. CIBC increased their price target on Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.24.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.2 %

WM stock traded down $0.50 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $210.00. 1,145,569 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,671,851. The firm has a market cap of $84.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $209.04 and its 200 day moving average is $189.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total transaction of $363,937.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,353,349.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total value of $363,937.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 55,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,353,349.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $523,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Waste Management

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.