Denali Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Denali Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the quarter. Denali Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB increased its position in Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after acquiring an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $374,062,000 after acquiring an additional 437,613 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Waste Management by 138.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $149,168,000 after purchasing an additional 416,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Waste Management by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. CIBC boosted their target price on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.94.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,212,664.23. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,192 shares of company stock worth $15,025,861 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $230.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $232.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $214.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 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.