Ipsen Advisor Group LLC Purchases New Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Ipsen Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,405 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $687,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the third quarter valued at $773,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in Waste Management by 15.4% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 81,918 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,006,000 after acquiring an additional 10,955 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 300.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 28,478 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,912,000 after buying an additional 21,370 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Waste Management by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,715 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 8.1% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 3,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were 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 owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. CIBC raised their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank boosted 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. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $227.26 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $235.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $223.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $216.19. 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 data 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. 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%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

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.