Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Acquired by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 622,372 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,897 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.16% of Waste Management worth $125,587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,526,823,000 after buying an additional 538,567 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,654,173,000 after acquiring an additional 64,260 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $1,009,726,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WM. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.94.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,046,109.78. This represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. The trade was a 12.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 3.6 %

WM stock opened at $224.33 on Thursday. 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 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $239.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.26 billion, a PE ratio of 32.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $227.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $217.91.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Equities analysts expect 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 is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

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.