KKM Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

KKM Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 21.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,738 shares during the period. Waste Management accounts for about 1.5% of KKM Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. KKM Financial LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,064,206,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in Waste Management by 444.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,206,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $487,157,000 after buying an additional 1,800,728 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Waste Management by 218.3% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,369,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $302,494,000 after buying an additional 939,455 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 163.7% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,400,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $309,317,000 after acquiring an additional 869,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 982.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 886,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $195,692,000 after purchasing an additional 804,285 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Waste Management in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $256.00 target price on the stock. DZ Bank began coverage on Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Friday. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.55.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $238.61 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $194.11 and a 52 week high of $248.13. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $229.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.32. The company has a market capitalization of $96.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.61, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.57.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.The firm had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.945 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 56.42%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total transaction of $4,171,464.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 44,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,674,944.26. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total value of $1,955,413.53. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 98,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,177,625.92. This represents a 7.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.