Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Grows Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 107,453 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,606 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $19,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $784,486,000. abrdn plc boosted its position in Waste Management by 315.7% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,457,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $222,165,000 after buying an additional 1,106,773 shares during the last quarter. Mirova US LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 26,116.4% in the 4th quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 913,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $163,680,000 after buying an additional 910,418 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Waste Management by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $827,815,000 after buying an additional 776,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its stake in Waste Management by 128.2% during the 3rd quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 898,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $137,012,000 after acquiring an additional 504,924 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. HSBC lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,611 shares of company stock worth $546,839. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE WM traded down $0.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $208.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,270,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,614,986. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $209.50 and its 200 day moving average is $193.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

Waste Management 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.