Callan Family Office LLC Takes Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 11,555 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,332,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Waste Management by 67.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in Waste Management by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,741,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $361,450,000 after purchasing an additional 122,696 shares in the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 6,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $99,759,000 after acquiring an additional 28,266 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,212,664.23. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 75,173 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,967. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on WM shares. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $229.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $92.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.75, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $235.81. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $218.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $214.73. 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 (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

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.