Vestor Capital LLC Has $6.58 Million Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Vestor Capital LLC trimmed its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 52.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,599 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 36,022 shares during the quarter. Vestor Capital LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,578,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $56,135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% in 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 buying an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% in 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 buying an additional 28,266 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 32.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in Waste Management by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 79,192 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $15,980,000 after acquiring an additional 4,798 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

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Waste Management Stock Down 0.0 %

Waste Management stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $226.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 542,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,532,024. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $223.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $235.81. The company has a market capitalization of $90.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on WM shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on 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 shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $236.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % 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. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.