ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 40,489 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

ProShare Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 43.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,685 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 40,489 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $10,833,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 250.1% during the 4th 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 increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $205,506,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $243.29.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. This represents a 17.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 79,522 shares of company stock valued at $18,084,124 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock traded up $1.96 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $233.91. 1,901,431 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,656,134. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $239.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $228.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $221.88. 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 capitalization of $94.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Waste Management Company 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.