Bannerman Wealth Management Group LLC Invests $310,000 in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Bannerman Wealth Management Group LLC purchased 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,538 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $310,000. Waste Management accounts for approximately 0.3% of Bannerman Wealth Management Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,866 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $781,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,520,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 609 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,039 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WM. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. HSBC upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $247.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 87,947 shares of company stock valued at $20,536,508. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock traded up $3.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $241.09. The stock had a trading volume of 2,439,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,665,314. 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 $241.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.02 billion, a PE ratio of 35.45, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $230.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $222.68.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.75 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.