Commerce Bank Has $52.07 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Commerce Bank lowered its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 258,029 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,634 shares during the period. Commerce Bank owned about 0.06% of Waste Management worth $52,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $505,175,000 after purchasing an additional 276,287 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 12,706 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,638,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Aldebaran Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.6% during the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 11,210 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,327,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 245.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,413 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,954,000 after buying an additional 6,689 shares during the period. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the third quarter valued at $562,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WM shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC boosted their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James upped their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,052,881.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE:WM traded down $2.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $227.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 882,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,641,780. The company has a market capitalization of $91.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $239.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $227.94 and a 200-day moving average of $219.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.825 dividend. This is a positive change 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 1.45%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

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.