Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Bought by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 32.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,365 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $56,135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,127 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. Trium Capital LLP raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 33.6% during the third quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 12,031 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,498,000 after acquiring an additional 3,029 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 77.4% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,553,000 after acquiring an additional 5,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $99,759,000 after acquiring an additional 28,266 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WM. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 4th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $231.39.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM traded down $3.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $210.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,110,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,675,977. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $184.72 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $84.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77. The business's fifty day moving average is $212.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.29.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.87%.

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.