Wellington Management Group LLP Has $52.65 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 260,910 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,755 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $52,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Waste Management by 76.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 245,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $50,966,000 after buying an additional 106,700 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 98.8% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 57,553 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,872,000 after acquiring an additional 28,596 shares in the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $745,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,470 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,419,000 after acquiring an additional 2,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glen Eagle Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 26,461 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,493,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Down 4.9 %

WM stock opened at $225.34 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $226.71 and a 200-day moving average of $217.45. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $239.32. The company has a market capitalization of $90.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. 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 (NYSE:WM) last posted its 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,045.36. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.