Zions Bancorporation N.A. Increases Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 44.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,630 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WM. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James increased their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup raised their target price on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,446.72. This trade represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $227.26 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $223.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $216.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 48.53%.

About Waste Management

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.