Foster Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Foster Group Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,267 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,686,203,000 after acquiring an additional 168,818 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the third 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 buying an additional 2,588,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Waste Management by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $505,175,000 after buying an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE WM opened at $213.62 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $184.72 and a 52 week high of $230.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.66, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $212.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.30.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. 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 research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Scotiabank raised Waste Management from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $225.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.39.

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.