UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Raises Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp raised its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,790 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 110 shares during the quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WM. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the third quarter worth about $773,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in Waste Management by 15.4% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 81,918 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,006,000 after buying an additional 10,955 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 300.6% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 28,478 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,912,000 after acquiring an additional 21,370 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,715 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $564,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 3,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $227.26 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $223.47 and its 200 day moving average is $216.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market cap of $91.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,052,881.80. This represents a 7.22 % 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 dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,046,109.78. This represents a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC increased their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

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.