Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Acquired by Moors & Cabot Inc.

Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 59,901 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,223 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $12,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Activest Wealth Management grew 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WM. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total transaction of $152,868.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,046,109.78. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.5 %

WM stock opened at $224.25 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $90.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $219.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.04. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 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.