Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $94.53 Million Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 468,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 12,078 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Waste Management worth $94,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588,842 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 32.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 437,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $149,168,000 after buying an additional 416,579 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of WM opened at $228.38 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $230.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.59, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $212.32 and a 200-day moving average of $212.45.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.12%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,294,071.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,442 shares in the company, valued at $15,424,457.04. This represents a 7.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WM. CIBC boosted their price target on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average 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.