Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Acquired by Goelzer Investment Management Inc.

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 56.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,466 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 889 shares during the quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,963,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,061,521,000 after buying an additional 46,084 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $784,486,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 40.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,923,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $523,581,000 after purchasing an additional 844,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,997,367 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $357,729,000 after purchasing an additional 38,828 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. CIBC upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.61.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE WM traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $210.06. The company had a trading volume of 223,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,709,995. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $84.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.42, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $208.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $201.18. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.71 and a 12-month high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. Waste Management’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.10%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the transaction, 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 currently owned by company 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.