Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. Has $1.50 Million Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. increased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 250.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,658,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,716,000 after buying an additional 1,184,905 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,237 shares during the period. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $205,506,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. HSBC raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.29.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of WM opened at $229.76 on Monday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $239.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $228.33 and its 200-day moving average is $221.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.46 billion, a PE ratio of 33.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. 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 earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at $48,212,664.23. This trade represents a 17.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total transaction of $1,304,087.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 55,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,646,598.37. This trade represents a 9.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 79,522 shares of company stock worth $18,084,124 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.