Prosperity Consulting Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,328 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,454 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,654,173,000 after buying an additional 64,260 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 22.5% in 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. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $1,009,726,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

WM traded up $0.61 during trading on Monday, reaching $228.92. 2,348,601 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,648,354. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $239.32. 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 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $227.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $219.90.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on WM shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. HSBC upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.