Nebula Research & Development LLC Makes New Investment in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 8,212 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,657,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WM. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $56,135,000 after buying an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Waste Management by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Waste Management by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $99,759,000 after buying an additional 28,266 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 79,192 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,980,000 after purchasing an additional 4,798 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WM stock traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $228.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,348,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,648,354. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $227.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.90. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $239.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.10 billion, a PE ratio of 33.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by ($0.01). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. On average, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management's payout ratio is 48.53%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the firm'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 value 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 trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WM. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $239.28.

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.