OFI Invest Asset Management Makes New Investment in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 8,683 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,692,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.6 %

Waste Management stock opened at $229.51 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $92.29 billion, a PE ratio of 33.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $235.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $218.22 and a 200 day moving average of $214.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,046,109.78. This represents a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 75,173 shares of company stock worth $17,075,967 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. CIBC upped their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James upped their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.