Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,687,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $340,611,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 75,173 shares of company stock worth $17,075,967 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Trading Down 2.0 %

Waste Management stock opened at $225.83 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $235.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market cap of $90.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $217.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $214.57.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. 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. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. CIBC increased their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Company 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.