Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by Intact Investment Management Inc.

Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 509.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,410 shares during the quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.0 %

WM stock opened at $222.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $89.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $235.81. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $220.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.15. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. 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. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at $48,212,664.23. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.