Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Bought by NorthRock Partners LLC

NorthRock Partners LLC raised its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 57.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,283 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,654,173,000 after buying an additional 64,260 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,151,237 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $1,009,726,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $822,588,000 after purchasing an additional 224,279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on WM shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target 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. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.29.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE WM opened at $222.07 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $239.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $89.36 billion, a PE ratio of 32.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $228.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.38.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. This trade represents a 18.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,246.40. This trade represents a 12.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 79,522 shares of company stock valued at $18,084,124. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.