Calamos Wealth Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 59,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $11,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in Waste Management by 892.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at $1,349,728.38. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,653 shares of company stock valued at $364,287 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.6 %

WM stock opened at $223.89 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market cap of $89.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.92, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.20 and a 12 month high of $230.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $212.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.24.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. As a group, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus upped their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.50.

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.