Verus Capital Partners LLC Grows Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WM. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank upped their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $232.83 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $215.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $233.04. The stock has a market cap of $93.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78.

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 37.93%. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. This represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This trade represents a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 66,192 shares of company stock worth $15,025,861. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.