26,911 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Acquired by Voleon Capital Management LP

Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 26,911 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,430,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 250.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,658,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,716,000 after buying an additional 1,184,905 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 22.5% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,526,823,000 after purchasing an additional 538,567 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WM. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $228.79 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $239.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $219.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.65, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 48.53%.

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.