Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Bought by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 64,260 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.05% of Waste Management worth $1,654,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,127 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $99,759,000 after buying an additional 28,266 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,529,000 after buying an additional 1,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 79,192 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,980,000 after purchasing an additional 4,798 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares in the company, valued at $13,052,881.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC upped their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of WM stock traded up $2.23 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $236.79. 2,215,276 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,620,750. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $238.90. The stock's 50 day moving average is $226.39 and its 200-day moving average is $217.24. 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 company has a market cap of $95.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. Analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

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.