Ipsen Advisor Group LLC Buys Shares of 3,405 Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Ipsen Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 3,405 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $687,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $773,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in Waste Management by 15.4% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 81,918 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,006,000 after purchasing an additional 10,955 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 300.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 28,478 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,912,000 after buying an additional 21,370 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,715 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 8.1% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 3,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. The trade was a 18.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WM shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James upped their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $227.26 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $235.81. The stock has a market cap of $91.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $223.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.19.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

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.