Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by GHP Investment Advisors Inc.

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 874 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $176,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,686,203,000 after buying an additional 168,818 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 12.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,175,000 after buying an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on WM. Argus raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank raised 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. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total transaction of $903,560.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,185,967.59. This represents a 17.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $224.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $90.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $211.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.43. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.48 and a 12 month high of $230.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. On average, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.