TCW Group Inc. Has $11.94 Million Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

TCW Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 47.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,960 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $11,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,686,203,000 after acquiring an additional 168,818 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 12.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,175,000 after acquiring an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,087,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $433,262,000 after purchasing an additional 18,983 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total transaction of $903,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,185,967.59. This represents a 17.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This trade represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $227.89 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $213.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.51, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upped their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

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.