638 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Acquired by Lee Danner & Bass Inc.

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 638 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $129,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target 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. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $224.76 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $222.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.82. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $235.81. The company has a market capitalization of $90.38 billion, a PE ratio of 33.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.47%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value 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 $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % 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, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,349,728.38. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.