Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Position Boosted by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,736 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,069 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $7,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WM. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $366,537,000 after acquiring an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 7.2% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,561 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,570,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Waste Management by 27.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 62,629 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $13,002,000 after purchasing an additional 13,604 shares during the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.1% in the third quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 3,086 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $641,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,189 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,492,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WM. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC upped their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE WM traded down $2.14 on Friday, reaching $224.76. The company had a trading volume of 2,535,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,532,354. 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 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $235.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $222.69 and a 200-day moving average of $215.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.38 billion, a PE ratio of 33.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. Waste Management's payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.