Value Partners Investments Inc. Takes $239,000 Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Value Partners Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,032 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in Waste Management by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 124,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,193,000 after purchasing an additional 15,974 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $1,605,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 9,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,925,000 after buying an additional 1,360 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,961,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $597,614,000 after buying an additional 157,082 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on WM shares. Melius started coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Monday, June 9th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Melius Research upgraded shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $263.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted 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 note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.53.

Waste Management Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of WM stock opened at $228.84 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $233.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $224.23. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $242.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.09 billion, a PE ratio of 34.52, a PEG ratio of 3.10 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 49.77%.

Waste Management 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.