UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Purchases 3,662 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 16.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,106 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,662 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd's holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WM. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $340,611,000. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $7,526,823,000 after purchasing an additional 538,567 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 138.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $149,168,000 after buying an additional 416,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $60,668,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $236.65.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the business's 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 directly owns 9,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,014,446.72. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Waste Management stock traded up $3.81 during trading on Monday, reaching $231.73. 1,914,307 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,617,376. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.18 billion, a PE ratio of 34.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $224.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $216.63. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.825 per share. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

About Waste Management

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.