Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 234,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,962 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Waste Management worth $42,047,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WM. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.0% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 62,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,520,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 4.1% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Waste Management by 4.3% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 128,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,650,000 after acquiring an additional 5,255 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 5.4% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 4.4% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $838,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WM. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.24.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total value of $153,899.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,934,010.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE WM opened at $207.88 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $83.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.02, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $208.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

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.