Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Acquired by Scotia Capital Inc.

Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 644,530 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 41,182 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of Waste Management worth $130,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,526,823,000 after acquiring an additional 538,567 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,654,173,000 after acquiring an additional 64,260 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,237 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $1,009,726,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 280,455 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.94.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $224.33 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $90.26 billion, a PE ratio of 32.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $239.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $227.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $217.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

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%. Equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at $10,046,109.78. This represents a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % 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 valued at $21,662,464 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Company 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.