Johnson Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Johnson Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 62.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,974 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,350 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 250.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,658,733 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $334,716,000 after buying an additional 1,184,905 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after buying an additional 1,151,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Waste Management by 1.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 538,567 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.28.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $228.28 on Friday. 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 company's fifty day moving average price is $227.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.72. The stock has a market cap of $91.84 billion, a PE ratio of 33.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $239.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. On average, 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at $19,158,100.47. This represents a 18.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the sale, 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 a total of 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.

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