Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Bought by Man Group plc

Man Group plc raised its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 13.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 228,868 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,345 shares during the period. Man Group plc’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $46,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NorthRock Partners LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 57.0% in the 4th quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,283 shares in the last quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc increased its holdings in Waste Management by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 33,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,738,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its holdings in Waste Management by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 16,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,392,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners increased its holdings in Waste Management by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners now owns 13,845 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,794,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $77,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 4,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $941,181.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,288,582.29. This trade represents a 6.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This trade represents a 1.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 79,522 shares of company stock valued at $18,084,124 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.29.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of WM opened at $222.07 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.36 billion, a PE ratio of 32.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $239.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $228.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.38.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.77%.

Waste Management 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.