Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Acquires Shares of 4,894 Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 4,894 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $988,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 245,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,966,000 after buying an additional 106,700 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 98.8% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 57,553 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,872,000 after acquiring an additional 28,596 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.8% in the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 19.6% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,470 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,419,000 after purchasing an additional 2,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glen Eagle Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 26,461 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,493,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 4.9 %

NYSE WM opened at $225.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $226.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.45. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $239.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on WM shares. CIBC boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total transaction of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,046,109.78. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. 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.