Park National Corp OH Purchases 1,660 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Park National Corp OH boosted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 208,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,660 shares during the period. Waste Management accounts for 1.5% of Park National Corp OH’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $42,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,686,203,000 after buying an additional 168,818 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after acquiring an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $969,401,000 after acquiring an additional 12,664 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Waste Management by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,846,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $820,539,000 after purchasing an additional 243,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WM shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. CIBC raised their price objective on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.7 %

Waste Management stock opened at $203.24 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.57 billion, a PE ratio of 31.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $215.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.45. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $176.68 and a 12 month high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.87%.

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.