Martingale Asset Management L P Sells 5,604 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Martingale Asset Management L P lowered its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 146,463 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,604 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in Waste Management were worth $29,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Faithward Advisors LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 22,052 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,450,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 489,717 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $95,432,000 after purchasing an additional 197,582 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 26,698 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,387,000 after buying an additional 4,237 shares in the last quarter. Greenland Capital Management LP lifted its position in Waste Management by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Greenland Capital Management LP now owns 19,030 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,840,000 after buying an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capula Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $333,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.7 %

Waste Management stock traded up $1.61 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $230.99. 290,089 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,743,625. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $239.32. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $227.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $218.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company has a market cap of $92.93 billion, a PE ratio of 33.97, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share 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, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management's payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.76.

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.