Colonial Trust Co SC Buys 1,141 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,154 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Concentric Capital Strategies LP increased its position in Waste Management by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP now owns 40,858 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,245,000 after acquiring an additional 10,565 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 3,264 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Waste Management by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 177,416 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,801,000 after purchasing an additional 7,567 shares during the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $3,247,000. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $823,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total value of $1,304,087.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 55,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,646,598.37. The trade was a 9.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 3,094 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $705,772.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 53,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,241,066.93. This represents a 5.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 79,522 shares of company stock worth $18,084,124 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on WM. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. HSBC upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $243.29.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of Waste Management stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $233.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,484,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,646,244. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $228.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.09. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $239.32. The company has a market capitalization of $93.77 billion, a PE ratio of 34.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The firm's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.825 dividend. This is a boost from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.77%.

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.