Vanguard Group Inc. Has $7.53 Billion Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 538,567 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.29% of Waste Management worth $7,526,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM traded up $1.02 on Tuesday, hitting $227.26. 1,622,476 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,532,929. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $235.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50-day moving average of $223.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $216.03.

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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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. 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 1.45%. This is a boost from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management's payout ratio is 48.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $236.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.