Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Stock Holdings Lessened by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 187,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,400 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $37,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $7,526,823,000 after buying an additional 538,567 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $1,654,173,000 after acquiring an additional 64,260 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake 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 last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,009,726,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on WM. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.76.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $232.40 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $239.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $227.48 and its 200-day moving average is $218.47. The firm has a market cap of $93.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results 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%. Equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.53%.

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.