Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. increased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 14.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 201 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.7 %

Waste Management stock opened at $229.70 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $92.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $230.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $213.79 and a 200 day moving average of $213.29.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at $10,046,109.78. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 60,460 shares of company stock worth $13,721,774 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.