Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Purchases 3,002 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 155,202 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,002 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $34,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Old Port Advisors raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 16,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,727,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.7% during the third quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 801 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Mendel Money Management increased its holdings in Waste Management by 1.8% in the third quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 2,903 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canton Hathaway LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 0.5% in the third quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 9,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,130,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WM. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $232.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $250.00 price target (down from $254.00) on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.59.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $229.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.30, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.57. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $194.11 and a 12 month high of $248.13. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $232.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $220.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 56.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, COO John J. Morris sold 4,211 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.38, for a total transaction of $1,024,873.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 99,929 shares in the company, valued at $24,320,720.02. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total value of $4,171,464.31. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 44,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,674,944.26. The trade was a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.