1,025 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Bought by Phocas Financial Corp.

Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,025 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $161,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Waste Management by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,984,227 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,925,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016,798 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 194.9% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,217,592 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $192,988,000 after buying an additional 804,708 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 3,120.2% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 600,443 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $96,197,000 after buying an additional 581,797 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 18.8% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,194,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $482,604,000 after buying an additional 504,966 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,605,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $417,394,000 after buying an additional 461,425 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.48% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $153.15 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $152.41 and its 200-day moving average is $159.06. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $138.89 and a 1 year high of $175.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $62.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.91% and a net margin of 11.36%. The firm had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 51.95%.

Waste Management announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 2.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on WM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Waste Management from $157.00 to $151.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Waste Management from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $171.00 in a report on Monday, December 19th. UBS Group downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $165.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Leslie K. Nagy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.11, for a total transaction of $120,888.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $787,283.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Waste Management news, CAO Leslie K. Nagy sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.11, for a total transaction of $120,888.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $787,283.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 7,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $1,164,825.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 46,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,214,010. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,027 shares of company stock valued at $4,806,619. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Waste Management

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Waste Management, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of waste management environmental services. It operates through the following segments: East Tier, West Tier, and Other. The East Tier segment consists of Eastern U.S., the Great Lakes Region, and Canada. The West Tier segment includes the upper Midwest region and British Columbia, Canada.