Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 252,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,253 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $51,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,499,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 9.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 46,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,557,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Nwam LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 21.4% during the third quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the period. Finally, GenTrust LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the third quarter valued at approximately $228,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 18,531 shares in the company, valued at $4,185,967.59. The trade was a 17.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC upped their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $224.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $235.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.38 billion, a PE ratio of 33.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $222.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $215.91.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced 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, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.53%.

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.