Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 16,628 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 199,331 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,628 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Waste Management were worth $40,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Waste Management by 67.2% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 31.7% in the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,893 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.0% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 75,982 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,774,000 after buying an additional 2,180 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 8.5% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 13,436 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,789,000 after buying an additional 1,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Courier Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Nine equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.94.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock traded down $1.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $227.89. 1,709,065 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,665,810. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $230.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.51, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $213.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a boost from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.12%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 18,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,185,967.59. The trade was a 17.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the 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 $1,294,071.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,442 shares in the company, valued at $15,424,457.04. This represents a 7.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.