178 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Purchased by Sierra Ocean LLC

Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $36,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,686,203,000 after buying an additional 168,818 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 12.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,175,000 after purchasing an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total transaction of $152,868.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,046,109.78. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of WM opened at $228.38 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $230.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.59, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $212.32 and a 200-day moving average of $212.45.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WM shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus increased their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

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.