Toronto Dominion Bank Buys 14,840 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 200,294 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,840 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $40,417,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 250.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,184,905 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $205,506,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on WM. HSBC upgraded 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 research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Hsbc Global Res raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at $19,158,100.47. The trade was a 18.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. The trade was a 12.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 79,522 shares of company stock worth $18,084,124. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $229.76 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $228.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $221.63. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $239.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

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

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.