Martingale Asset Management L P Sells 12,206 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Martingale Asset Management L P lessened its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 12,206 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $25,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,849,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $408,481,000 after purchasing an additional 91,097 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 311,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $68,707,000 after purchasing an additional 38,697 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 16,488 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,641,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the third quarter worth approximately $21,934,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 76.6% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 193,416 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,712,000 after buying an additional 83,882 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 12,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.48, for a total transaction of $2,847,055.12. Following the sale, the vice president owned 6,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,406,483.52. This trade represents a 66.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,818 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.83, for a total value of $1,165,136.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 78,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,084,739.94. This represents a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.0%

WM opened at $238.94 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $229.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $220.29. The firm has a market cap of $96.38 billion, a PE ratio of 35.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.57. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $248.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.945 dividend. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.55.

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.