TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Purchases 11,096 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 128,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,096 shares during the quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $28,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 23,832 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its position in Waste Management by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 42,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,235,000 after purchasing an additional 2,933 shares during the period. Krilogy Financial LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 12,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,869,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766 shares during the period. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $311,000. Finally, Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. increased its position in Waste Management by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. now owns 5,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Scotiabank restated 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total value of $1,955,413.53. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 98,656 shares in the company, valued at $24,177,625.92. The trade was a 7.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 12,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.48, for a total transaction of $2,847,055.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 6,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,406,483.52. The trade was a 66.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $223.97 on Monday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $194.11 and a 12 month high of $248.13. The stock has a market cap of $90.24 billion, a PE ratio of 33.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $233.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.12.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.945 dividend. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.42%.

Waste Management Profile

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.