Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 339 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,537 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Waste Management by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. Trium Capital LLP raised its stake in Waste Management by 33.6% during the 3rd quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 12,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,498,000 after purchasing an additional 3,029 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 77.4% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $99,759,000 after purchasing an additional 28,266 shares during the period. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 417.3% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 4th. CIBC upped their price objective on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.72.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of WM opened at $208.16 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.77. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $180.17 and a 12-month high of $230.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $214.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

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.