Vectors Research Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Vectors Research Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 970 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,526,823,000 after buying an additional 538,567 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 64,260 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,237 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $1,009,726,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $822,588,000 after purchasing an additional 224,279 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.00.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $234.75 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $242.58. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $233.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $224.13. The stock has a market cap of $94.47 billion, a PE ratio of 35.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 35.67% and a net margin of 11.67%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 49.77%.

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.