Compass Ion Advisors LLC Takes Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Compass Ion Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,108 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,963,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,061,521,000 after acquiring an additional 46,084 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,213,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $794,174,000 after acquiring an additional 66,816 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,799,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $859,624,000 after purchasing an additional 16,213 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $784,486,000. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in Waste Management by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,923,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $523,581,000 after purchasing an additional 844,298 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on WM. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, 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 research note on Monday, March 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.61.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.9 %

WM opened at $209.36 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $208.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $200.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total value of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Company 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.