Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Has $3.98 Million Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,704 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,381 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after acquiring an additional 2,588,842 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 11.3% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 32.1% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $374,062,000 after purchasing an additional 437,613 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 138.0% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $149,168,000 after buying an additional 416,579 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair started coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $211.02 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $180.25 and a 52-week high of $230.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $214.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.23. The stock has a market cap of $84.70 billion, a PE ratio of 32.27, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 45.87%.

About Waste Management

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.