Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 41.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,179 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $340,611,000. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,265,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,237 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,526,823,000 after purchasing an additional 538,567 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 138.0% during 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 in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on WM. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer raised 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. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $225.34 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $239.32. The firm has a market cap of $90.61 billion, a PE ratio of 33.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $226.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $217.35.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

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.