Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. Purchases New Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WM. Swedbank AB grew 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 in the last quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Waste Management during the third quarter worth about $366,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 8.9% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 86,096 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,874,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares during the period. Autumn Glory Partners LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 140.9% during the third quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 2,361 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $491,000 after purchasing an additional 1,381 shares during the period. Finally, Orrstown Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Management during the third quarter worth about $643,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, 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, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total transaction of $1,304,087.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 55,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,646,598.37. This represents a 9.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,349,728.38. This represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,192 shares of company stock valued at $15,025,861. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $230.59 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.47. The firm has a market cap of $92.72 billion, a PE ratio of 33.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $232.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 37.93%. On average, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

Waste Management 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.