O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc Has $349,000 Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc increased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $340,611,000. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $60,668,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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 $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $229.30 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $239.32. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $227.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $218.19.

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%. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.76.

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.