Michael Brady & Co. LLC Invests $996,000 in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Michael Brady & Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 4,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $996,000. Waste Management accounts for 1.0% of Michael Brady & Co. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,341,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Old Port Advisors increased its stake in Waste Management by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 16,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,727,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $851,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Clean Yield Group increased its stake in Waste Management by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 801 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of WM opened at $224.39 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $248.13. The business’s fifty day moving average is $233.12 and its 200-day moving average is $222.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $90.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.945 dividend. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 56.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 30,390 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.36, for a total value of $7,000,640.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 225,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,013,675.48. This trade represents a 11.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total value of $1,955,413.53. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,177,625.92. This trade represents a 7.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Waste Management from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group upgraded Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.64.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.