Amica Mutual Insurance Co. Has $3.81 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Amica Mutual Insurance Co. trimmed its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,892 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,618 shares during the period. Amica Mutual Insurance Co.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position in Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total transaction of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. This represents a 12.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,158,100.47. This represents a 18.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price 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. Nine investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of WM stock traded down $1.23 on Friday, reaching $227.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,264,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,616,188. The stock has a market cap of $91.60 billion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50-day moving average of $224.57 and a 200-day moving average of $216.56. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management's 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.