Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Has $415.38 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. trimmed its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,058,498 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 46,465 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up about 2.9% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned 0.51% of Waste Management worth $415,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its position in Waste Management by 892.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 65.7% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,014,446.72. This trade represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total transaction of $282,625.92. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,246.40. This trade represents a 12.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $233.59. 521,815 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,614,986. 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 twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $235.81. The company has a market cap of $93.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $225.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $216.98.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. CIBC increased their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $236.65.

About Waste Management

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.