Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Bought by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 179,692 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $36,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,561 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,570,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Waste Management by 27.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 62,629 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $13,002,000 after purchasing an additional 13,604 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 9.1% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 63,403 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $13,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.9% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.5 %

WM traded up $1.02 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $227.26. The stock had a trading volume of 1,622,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,532,024. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $216.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $235.81. The company has a market capitalization of $91.38 billion, a PE ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total transaction of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. The trade was a 12.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at $48,212,664.23. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.