2,868 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Bought by SBI Securities Co. Ltd.

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,868 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $579,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Waste Management by 106.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 14,254 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 7,342 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,199 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $646,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 589 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 8,352 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $229.86 on Wednesday. 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $216.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $214.38. The stock has a market cap of $92.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.80, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,406 shares of company stock worth $15,076,127. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.