Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 21.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,472 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,472 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the first quarter worth about $29,000. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the subject of several research reports. HSBC lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.85.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $207.12 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. The firm has a market cap of $83.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50 day moving average of $207.30 and a 200-day moving average of $184.96.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.21. Waste Management had a return on equity of 36.51% and a net margin of 11.28%. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 53.00%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.