Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Purchased by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its stake in Waste Management by 18.5% in Q4, buying 36,900 shares to hold 236,153 shares valued at $51.885 million, and institutional investors now own 80.40% of the stock.
• Multiple analysts have raised ratings and price targets — including UBS upgrading to a "buy" and Wells Fargo lifting its target to $273 — leaving a MarketBeat average target of $255.64 and a consensus of "Moderate Buy" (1 Strong Buy, 16 Buy, 8 Hold).
• Insiders sold 98,042 shares worth $23.04 million in the last quarter (notable VP sales), leaving corporate insiders with just 0.18% ownership.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 236,153 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 36,900 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS owned 0.06% of Waste Management worth $51,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,922 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,104 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,341,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Old Port Advisors raised its position in Waste Management by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 16,963 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,727,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 1.3% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,853 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $851,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clean Yield Group raised its position in Waste Management by 6.7% in the third quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 801 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on WM. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. UBS Group upgraded Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Waste Management from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $255.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 12,194 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.48, for a total transaction of $2,847,055.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 6,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,406,483.52. This trade represents a 66.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total value of $4,171,464.31. Following the sale, the vice president owned 44,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,674,944.26. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of WM stock opened at $223.25 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $194.11 and a fifty-two week high of $248.13. The stock has a market cap of $89.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $232.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The firm had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.42%.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc NYSE: WM is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.

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