Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP cut its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 244,923 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 53,815 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.06% of Waste Management worth $49,423,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,526,823,000 after buying an additional 538,567 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,654,173,000 after acquiring an additional 64,260 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,009,726,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% in 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 in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on WM shares. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James upped 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. HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.28.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WM traded up $0.81 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $228.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,115,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,645,509. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $227.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $219.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $239.32. The firm has a market cap of $91.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.