Ballentine Partners LLC Has $2.07 Million Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. increased its position in Waste Management by 51.8% during the 3rd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 211 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $212.77 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $213.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.27. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $182.93 and a 12-month high of $230.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market cap of $85.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.53, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The business had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Waste Management’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.87%.

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.