Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 75,084 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 21.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 420,632 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 75,084 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.10% of Waste Management worth $84,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Waste Management by 76.9% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 245,500 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $50,966,000 after buying an additional 106,700 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 98.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 57,553 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $10,872,000 after purchasing an additional 28,596 shares during the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,591 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,470 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,419,000 after purchasing an additional 2,704 shares during the period. Finally, Glen Eagle Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% in the third quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 26,461 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,493,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,212,664.23. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:WM traded up $2.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $228.78. 576,753 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,632,785. The company's 50 day moving average is $227.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $218.04. The company has a market capitalization of $92.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve 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.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 dividend yield of 1.44%. Waste Management's payout ratio is 48.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.76.

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.