Global Retirement Partners LLC Increases Stake in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,427 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,356 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Sprott Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter valued at about $325,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 272,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,339,000 after acquiring an additional 20,122 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 68.2% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 366,416 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $83,843,000 after acquiring an additional 148,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 3,338 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $764,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, March 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.67.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE WM opened at $218.09 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $194.11 and a 12 month high of $248.13. The stock has a market cap of $87.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50 day moving average is $227.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $223.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total transaction of $4,171,464.31. Following the sale, the vice president owned 44,146 shares in the company, valued at $10,674,944.26. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 121 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.27, for a total transaction of $29,677.67. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,279,294.11. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 35,296 shares of company stock worth $8,569,283 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.