Bailard Inc. Buys 2,016 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 89,579 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,016 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $16,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 3,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc lifted its stake in Waste Management by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 1,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 2,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on WM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. HSBC cut shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $211.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,448.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,448.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total transaction of $69,075.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,641.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE WM traded up $1.65 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $210.43. 1,828,674 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,665,506. The firm has a market cap of $84.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.90. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.71 and a 12-month high of $214.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $208.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 53.00%.

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.