Nebula Research & Development LLC Invests $1.66 Million in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 8,212 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,657,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WM. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 27,505 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,550,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Burling Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $2,488,000. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,650 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 648 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WM. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their target price 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $242.35.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock traded up $4.75 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $233.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,117,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,650,370. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $239.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $93.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The business's fifty day moving average price is $227.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.96.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The company 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction 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 $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.