Northcape Wealth Management LLC Makes New $2.66 Million Investment in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Northcape Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 12,119 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,663,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,436,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,487,924,000 after purchasing an additional 774,255 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 5.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,668,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,250,613,000 after buying an additional 277,250 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Waste Management by 0.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,954,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $873,276,000 after buying an additional 11,688 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Waste Management by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,530,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $781,494,000 after buying an additional 236,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP increased its holdings in Waste Management by 12.6% in the third quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 3,262,148 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $720,380,000 after buying an additional 364,512 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $273.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings raised Waste Management from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $250.00 target price (down from $254.00) on shares of Waste Management in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.59.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:WM opened at $231.56 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $194.11 and a 52 week high of $248.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.30 billion, a PE ratio of 34.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $232.85 and a 200-day moving average of $221.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.The business had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.945 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 30,390 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.36, for a total value of $7,000,640.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 225,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,013,675.48. This represents a 11.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total value of $1,955,413.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,177,625.92. This trade represents a 7.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.