Becker Capital Management Inc. Buys 1,432 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Becker Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,023 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,432 shares during the quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WM. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $56,135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,127 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Waste Management by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 6.2% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,529,000 after buying an additional 1,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 79,192 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $15,980,000 after acquiring an additional 4,798 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on WM shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $243.29.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE WM traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $233.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,227,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,647,650. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $94.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $228.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.33. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $239.32.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. This is a boost from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.77%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,294,071.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,424,457.04. The trade was a 7.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 93,924 shares of company stock worth $21,298,176. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.