Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by Amundi

Amundi raised its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,897,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,801 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $803,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after acquiring an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,741,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $361,450,000 after purchasing an additional 122,696 shares during the period. D.B. Root & Company LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 6,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,391,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 6.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $99,759,000 after buying an additional 28,266 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.6 %

WM stock opened at $229.51 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $218.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.73. 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS 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 issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC upped their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank increased their price objective on 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 target on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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 note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,212,664.23. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total transaction of $352,886.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 44,037 shares in the company, valued at $10,045,280.07. This represents a 3.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 75,173 shares of company stock worth $17,075,967 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management 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.