Rhumbline Advisers Has $157.29 Million Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Rhumbline Advisers lessened its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 779,484 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 43,089 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.19% of Waste Management worth $157,292,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,953,000. Sage Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Sage Advisors LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 2,350 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $474,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 124,848 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,193,000 after buying an additional 15,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,675 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,145,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares in the company, valued at $4,185,967.59. This trade represents a 17.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,294,071.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,424,457.04. This trade represents a 7.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WM. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $228.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,256,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,679,337. The company has a market cap of $91.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $230.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $212.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.59.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released 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 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.825 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.12%.

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.