Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Bought by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 21.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 420,632 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 75,084 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $84,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,127 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $99,759,000 after purchasing an additional 28,266 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after buying an additional 1,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 79,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,980,000 after acquiring an additional 4,798 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,046,109.78. This trade represents a 1.50 % 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 dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of WM opened at $225.34 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $90.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $226.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $217.45. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $239.32.

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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 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.