TIAA Trust National Association Has $3.85 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

TIAA Trust National Association decreased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 19,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 485 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $340,611,000. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,265,629,000 after buying an additional 1,151,237 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 1.5% in 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 buying an additional 538,567 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 138.0% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $149,168,000 after acquiring an additional 416,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $60,668,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James boosted their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.8 %

WM stock opened at $228.90 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $92.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $223.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $216.28. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $235.81. 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 (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 37.93%. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.