Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 252,847 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,036,718 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 252,847 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.51% of Waste Management worth $410,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 18.2% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Waste Management by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,235 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,332,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 54.0% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 83,599 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $17,355,000 after buying an additional 29,315 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the third quarter valued at about $16,245,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the third quarter worth about $64,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Waste Management Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of WM stock traded up $2.23 on Thursday, hitting $236.79. The stock had a trading volume of 2,215,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,621,067. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $238.90. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $225.85 and a 200 day moving average of $217.10. The stock has a market cap of $95.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. As a group, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.825 dividend. 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 yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the business's 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. This represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.