Crews Bank & Trust Takes Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on WM. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.39.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock opened at $222.57 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $184.72 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $212.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.28. The firm has a market cap of $89.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.73, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.