Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Acquired by Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,532 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,686,203,000 after purchasing an additional 168,818 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 11.3% in the 3rd 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. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Waste Management by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Waste Management by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,961,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $597,614,000 after purchasing an additional 157,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,175,000 after purchasing an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $229.51 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $218.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $214.78. The company has a market cap of $92.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. 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 fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current 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 given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WM. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 75,173 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,967. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.