Golden State Equity Partners Grows Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Golden State Equity Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 159.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,764 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,083 shares during the quarter. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Waste Management were worth $356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WM. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after acquiring an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after acquiring an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after acquiring an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $374,062,000 after buying an additional 437,613 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Waste Management by 138.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $149,168,000 after buying an additional 416,579 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at $10,046,109.78. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,653 shares of company stock valued at $364,287 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on WM. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, CIBC increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.50.

Waste Management Stock Performance

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

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is presently 44.12%.

Waste Management Company 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.