SVB Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 32,149 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,487,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $99,759,000 after acquiring an additional 28,266 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Waste Management by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 79,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,980,000 after acquiring an additional 4,798 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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 approximately $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,192 shares of company stock worth $15,025,861. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM opened at $232.83 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $215.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $233.04. The company has a market cap of $93.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WM. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

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.