Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Decreases Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership decreased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 36.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 510,992 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 295,447 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.13% of Waste Management worth $103,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WM. L & S Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 14,530 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,932,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 26,273 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,302,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Allianz SE bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $2,095,000. Allstate Corp purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $2,428,000. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 171,776 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,663,000 after buying an additional 19,869 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $231.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.08, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $224.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $216.79. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (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 37.93%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of a number of research reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, CIBC increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Waste Management 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.