Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,877 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 105 shares during the quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $340,611,000. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Waste Management by 67.2% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after buying an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 416,579 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 4,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total transaction of $941,181.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,288,582.29. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,046,109.78. This represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 75,173 shares of company stock worth $17,075,967 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James increased their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. CIBC raised their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of WM opened at $229.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $92.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $235.81. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $218.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $214.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

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 the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 48.53%.

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.