Impax Asset Management Group plc Sells 122,609 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Impax Asset Management Group plc lowered its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 7.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,510,721 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 122,609 shares during the period. Waste Management makes up about 2.1% of Impax Asset Management Group plc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned approximately 0.38% of Waste Management worth $349,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,526,823,000 after purchasing an additional 538,567 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% in the fourth 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% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $1,009,726,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $822,588,000 after purchasing an additional 224,279 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on WM. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. CIBC raised their price objective on Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $251.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Waste Management stock traded up $3.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $226.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,525,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,625,583. The business has a fifty day moving average of $232.87 and a 200 day moving average of $224.87. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $242.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. The company has a market capitalization of $91.12 billion, a PE ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.64.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 35.67% and a net margin of 11.67%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.