Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Takes $205.51 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,018,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,506,000. Waste Management makes up approximately 1.1% of Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC owned 0.25% of Waste Management at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in 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 valued at $334,716,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,905 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,265,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,237 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Waste Management by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,526,823,000 after purchasing an additional 538,567 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.0%

Waste Management stock opened at $233.03 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $93.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.27, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $228.54 and its 200-day moving average is $221.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $239.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. On average, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total transaction of $1,304,087.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 55,587 shares in the company, valued at $12,646,598.37. The trade was a 9.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 79,522 shares of company stock valued at $18,084,124. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on WM. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.29.

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.