QRG Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

QRG Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,344 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 513 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,518,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total transaction of $1,304,087.32. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 55,587 shares in the company, valued at $12,646,598.37. This represents a 9.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 a total of 66,192 shares of company stock valued at $15,025,861 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $232.83 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $233.04.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio 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.