Fox Run Management L.L.C. Invests $782,000 in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $782,000.

A number of other hedge funds and 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 buying an additional 709,678 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,499,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 46,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,557,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $927,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GenTrust LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $224.76 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $90.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $215.91. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $235.81. 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 earnings per share 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 analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. 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 yield of 1.47%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 48.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total transaction of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,046,109.78. This represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.