Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 1,126 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 15.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,315 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,126 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Scholtz & Company LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,842,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 19,984 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,042,000 after acquiring an additional 1,512 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $13,729,000. Centric Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $1,373,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 17,872 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,606,000 after buying an additional 4,780 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James increased their price target 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. CIBC lifted their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their target price 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, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $236.65.

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Waste Management Trading Down 4.9 %

NYSE WM traded down $11.49 on Friday, reaching $225.34. The company had a trading volume of 4,183,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,629,006. The firm has a market cap of $90.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $239.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $226.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $217.35.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share 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%. Analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management's payout ratio is 48.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total transaction of $282,625.92. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,246.40. The trade was a 12.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is currently 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.