Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Increases Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• Massachusetts Financial Services Co. increased its stake in Waste Management by 2.1% in Q4, adding 7,122 shares to hold 354,034 shares worth about $77.8 million (roughly 0.09% of the company).
• Insiders sold a total of 98,042 Waste Management shares worth $23.04 million in the past 90 days, including sales by VP Michael J. Watson (17,251 shares) and SVP Tara J. Hemmer (4,818 shares), reducing their holdings.
• Dividend and analyst view: Waste Management raised its quarterly dividend to $0.945 ($3.78 annualized, ~1.6% yield), and analysts maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with a $254.82 price target.

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 354,034 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,122 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.09% of Waste Management worth $77,785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 101.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 133 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total value of $4,171,464.31. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 44,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,674,944.26. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,818 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.83, for a total transaction of $1,165,136.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 78,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,084,739.94. This represents a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.4%

Waste Management stock opened at $230.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $233.34 and a 200 day moving average of $221.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.54. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $194.11 and a 12-month high of $248.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.The company's revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 56.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $265.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $254.82.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc NYSE: WM is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.

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