Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,101 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares in the company, valued at $4,185,967.59. This trade represents a 17.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Argus raised their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.50.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of WM opened at $224.94 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $211.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.44. The stock has a market cap of $90.28 billion, a PE ratio of 33.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. 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 52-week low of $187.48 and a 52-week high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (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%. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 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 1.33%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.