Harbour Investment Management LLC Has $4.41 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Harbour Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,837 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 408 shares during the quarter. Waste Management comprises 1.9% of Harbour Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Harbour Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,406,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WM. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 709,678 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 122,696 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,077 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,464 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after buying an additional 2,198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at $153,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of a number of research reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC upped their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $225.06 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $220.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $215.26. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $235.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.10, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.53%.

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.