Calamos Advisors LLC Has $31.67 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Calamos Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 176,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 164 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $31,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Waste Management in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,448.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total value of $153,899.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,934,010.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $211.00 price objective on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.85.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM traded up $1.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $206.62. 192,839 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,651,597. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.71 and a 12-month 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 company has a market cap of $82.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.23, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $206.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.57.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. Waste Management had a return on equity of 36.51% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 53.00%.

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.