United Capital Management of KS Inc. Increases Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

United Capital Management of KS Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. United Capital Management of KS Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WM. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM opened at $225.06 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $220.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.26. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $235.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.50 billion, a PE ratio of 33.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management 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 approximately $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of Waste Management 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. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. 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.

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.