Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Invests $2.82 Million in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 13,961 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,817,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WM. Chapman Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,733,000. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 19,161 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,867,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 11,786 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,378,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $149,000. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $1,110,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of several research reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued 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 Price Performance

Waste Management stock traded down $8.73 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $224.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,415,786 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,736,433. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $239.32. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $228.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $221.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. Waste Management's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. This is a boost from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 211,061 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 79,522 shares of company stock valued at $18,084,124 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.