Syon Capital LLC Boosts Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Syon Capital LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 27.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,730 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the quarter. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 170.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 4,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 2,860 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Waste Management by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,821,000 after purchasing an additional 20,599 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 228,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,794,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares during the period. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM traded down $2.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $210.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,648,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,671,104. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.31 billion, a PE ratio of 34.55, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $208.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.50.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.10%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $1,844,111.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 95,461 shares in the company, valued at $19,804,339.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $1,844,111.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 95,461 shares in the company, valued at $19,804,339.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James lifted their target price on Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, HSBC downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.21.

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.