Summit Financial LLC Grows Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Summit Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 29.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,481 shares during the quarter. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WM. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management by 65.7% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.0 %

WM opened at $233.85 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.03 billion, a PE ratio of 34.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $225.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $216.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share 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%. Analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.53%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,246.40. This trade represents a 12.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at $48,212,664.23. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WM. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. CIBC raised their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

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.