Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Holdings Increased by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,961,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 157,082 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.74% of Waste Management worth $597,614,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WM. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Waste Management by 67.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 32.1% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $374,062,000 after buying an additional 437,613 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Waste Management by 138.0% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $149,168,000 after acquiring an additional 416,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,294,071.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 69,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,424,457.04. This represents a 7.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at $10,046,109.78. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,192 shares of company stock worth $15,025,861 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $230.59 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.72 billion, a PE ratio of 33.91, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $214.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $213.47. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $232.44.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. Research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase 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 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Argus upped their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Nine investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.94.

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.