12,033 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Purchased by Allstate Corp

Allstate Corp bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 12,033 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,428,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.2% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 34,205 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 54.0% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 83,599 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $17,355,000 after acquiring an additional 29,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in Waste Management in the third quarter valued at about $16,245,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of Waste Management 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,995,045.36. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James upped their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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 target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:WM traded up $1.53 on Thursday, hitting $236.09. 661,780 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,615,011. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $238.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company's 50-day moving average price is $225.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $217.10.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.825 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

About Waste Management

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.