Sterling Capital Management LLC Grows Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,082 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,139 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $340,611,000. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,237 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 1.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 538,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $60,668,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several research reports. CIBC lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,046,109.78. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. The trade was a 18.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM traded up $1.27 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $230.84. The company had a trading volume of 1,372,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,639,884. 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 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $239.32. The firm has a market cap of $92.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.95, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $227.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $218.80.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current 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. 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 1.43%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is 48.53%.

Waste Management Company 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.