Parallel Advisors LLC Purchases 1,601 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,175 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,601 shares during the quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WM. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in 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 valued at $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $99,759,000 after buying an additional 28,266 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,529,000 after buying an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 6.4% during the 4th 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,158,100.47. This represents a 18.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on WM shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $225.80 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $235.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average of $221.50 and a 200 day moving average of $215.57. The firm has a market cap of $90.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.21, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

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.