Fisher Asset Management LLC Has $1.56 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 20.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,744 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $366,537,000 after acquiring an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,741,090 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $361,450,000 after purchasing an additional 122,696 shares in the last quarter. United Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,198 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.9% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 84,039 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $17,446,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the third quarter worth $539,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock 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. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $230.55 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $217.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $214.49. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $235.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market cap of $92.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is 48.53%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 4,126 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $941,181.86. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,288,582.29. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 75,173 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,967 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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