Arjuna Capital Has $5.94 Million Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Arjuna Capital raised its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,433 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Waste Management accounts for about 1.6% of Arjuna Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Arjuna Capital’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,686,203,000 after acquiring an additional 168,818 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,961,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $597,614,000 after buying an additional 157,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $229.51 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $218.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $214.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $92.29 billion, a PE ratio of 33.75, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 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%. Analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 48.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 4,126 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $941,181.86. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,288,582.29. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,547 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $352,886.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 44,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,045,280.07. This represents a 3.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 75,173 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,967. 0.18% of the stock is 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.