Bayesian Capital Management LP Takes Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,500 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,110,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,654,173,000 after acquiring an additional 64,260 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,265,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,237 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $1,009,726,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Waste Management by 7.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of WM stock traded down $0.10 on Friday, hitting $233.03. The company had a trading volume of 1,484,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,646,244. The stock's 50-day moving average is $228.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $220.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $93.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $239.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total value of $1,304,087.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 55,587 shares in the company, valued at $12,646,598.37. This trade represents a 9.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 79,522 shares of company stock worth $18,084,124 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $243.29.

Waste Management Company 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.