Legal & General Group Plc Sells 580,822 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 16.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,957,058 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 580,822 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $596,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,062,824 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $416,257,000 after purchasing an additional 146,782 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in Waste Management by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,741,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,462,000 after buying an additional 37,550 shares during the last quarter. Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $331,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 220,318 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,645,000 after acquiring an additional 6,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trek Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Trek Financial LLC now owns 1,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total transaction of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,046,109.78. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 2.2 %

WM stock opened at $220.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $88.60 billion, a PE ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $226.84 and its 200 day moving average is $217.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $239.32.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 48.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank raised their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC raised their target price 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, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.65.

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.