Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Acquired by Gotham Asset Management LLC

Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 72.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,481 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,885 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Waste Management by 250.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,658,733 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $334,716,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,905 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% during the fourth 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. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,526,823,000 after buying an additional 538,567 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WM. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $243.29.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 4,126 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 $941,181.86. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,288,582.29. The trade was a 6.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total transaction of $1,304,087.32. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 79,522 shares of company stock worth $18,084,124. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.8%

Waste Management stock traded up $1.96 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $233.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,901,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,656,134. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $228.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $221.80. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $239.32. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $94.13 billion, a PE ratio of 34.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.77%.

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.