Trexquant Investment LP Acquires New Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 68,037 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,729,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WM. Scotiabank raised their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC lifted their price objective 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $236.65.

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Waste Management Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE WM traded up $2.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $236.79. The company had a trading volume of 2,215,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,620,750. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $238.90. The stock has a market cap of $95.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.82, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $217.24.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.825 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares in the company, valued at $13,052,881.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $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.