4,077 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Bought by Brevan Howard Capital Management LP

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,077 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $823,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 4,126 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $941,181.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,639 shares in the company, valued at $14,288,582.29. This trade represents a 6.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total transaction of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. The trade was a 12.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 79,522 shares of company stock valued at $18,084,124 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. HSBC upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $243.29.

Waste Management Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of Waste Management stock traded down $7.34 during trading on Monday, reaching $225.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,974,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,653,821. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $239.32. The company has a market cap of $90.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.15, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The firm's 50-day moving average is $228.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $221.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

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.