Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 6,468 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 220,318 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,468 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $44,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Waste Management by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,526,823,000 after acquiring an additional 538,567 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,654,173,000 after purchasing an additional 64,260 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,009,726,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Waste Management by 7.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of WM opened at $220.22 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $239.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $226.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $217.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. The trade was a 12.94 % 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, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,446.72. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Company 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.