Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. Purchases New Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,140 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 77.4% in the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,553,000 after buying an additional 5,367 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $99,759,000 after acquiring an additional 28,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $227.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.63 billion, a PE ratio of 33.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $213.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $230.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. Raymond James lifted their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,446.72. This trade represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by 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.