Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by MGO One Seven LLC

MGO One Seven LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 29.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,635 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,847 shares during the quarter. MGO One Seven LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pinebridge Investments L.P. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 68.1% during the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 179,841 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $36,290,000 after purchasing an additional 72,860 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 148.4% during the 4th quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 3,900 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,330 shares during the last quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 1,178 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,219 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 7,312 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,475,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday. Nine 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $239.28.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock traded down $1.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $227.80. The stock had a trading volume of 886,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,645,509. The business's fifty day moving average is $227.96 and its 200-day moving average is $219.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $91.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.51, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $239.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid 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 dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at $10,046,109.78. This represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,995,045.36. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.