Renaissance Group LLC Has $31.08 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Renaissance Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 154,013 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 7,407 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Group LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $31,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WM. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WM. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note 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. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.76.

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Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This trade represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:WM traded up $2.85 on Friday, reaching $229.30. 1,920,866 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,639,419. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $239.32. The company's 50 day moving average is $227.33 and its 200-day moving average is $218.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. 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. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

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.