Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Buys 101,794 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 71.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 243,847 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 101,794 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $49,206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. The trade was a 18.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 3,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total transaction of $705,772.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 53,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,241,066.93. This represents a 5.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,522 shares of company stock worth $18,987,684 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE WM opened at $235.56 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $239.32. The company has a market cap of $94.79 billion, a PE ratio of 34.64, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $228.49 and a 200-day moving average of $220.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.29.

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.