Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Bought by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 622,372 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,897 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.16% of Waste Management worth $125,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,526,823,000 after acquiring an additional 538,567 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,654,173,000 after buying an additional 64,260 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,265,629,000 after buying an additional 1,151,237 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $1,009,726,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Waste Management by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Waste Management Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Waste Management stock traded down $0.22 on Tuesday, reaching $232.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 303,648 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,632,943. The company has a market capitalization of $93.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $239.32. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $227.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $218.47.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced 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%. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a boost from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. Waste Management's payout ratio is 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total transaction of $282,625.92. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. This represents a 12.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. This represents a 18.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WM. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.