Baldwin Investment Management LLC Acquires 145 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Baldwin Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,786 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,378,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 250.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,658,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $334,716,000 after buying an additional 1,184,905 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,265,629,000 after buying an additional 1,151,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,526,823,000 after acquiring an additional 538,567 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total transaction of $1,304,087.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 55,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,646,598.37. The trade was a 9.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 93,924 shares of company stock worth $21,298,176. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.2 %

WM opened at $233.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $94.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $239.32. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $228.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $220.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. CIBC boosted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.29.

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.