Waste Management, Inc. $WM Stock Position Raised by Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 155,202 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,002 shares during the quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $34,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WM. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted 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 worth $487,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800,728 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 218.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,369,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $302,494,000 after purchasing an additional 939,455 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 163.7% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,400,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $309,317,000 after purchasing an additional 869,453 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 982.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,436,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,487,924,000 after purchasing an additional 774,255 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on Waste Management from $266.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Waste Management from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $254.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total transaction of $1,955,413.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,656 shares in the company, valued at $24,177,625.92. This represents a 7.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president owned 44,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,674,944.26. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 2.1%

WM stock opened at $229.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day moving average of $232.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $220.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $248.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.945 dividend. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 56.42%.

Waste Management Company Profile

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.