Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $6.88 Million Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,115 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,493 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 250.1% during 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 increased its holdings 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 valued at $1,265,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,237 shares during the period. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $205,506,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $243.29.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of WM traded up $1.96 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $233.91. 1,901,431 shares of the stock were exchanged, 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $228.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $221.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company has a market cap of $94.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G 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 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 company had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.75 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.77%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. This represents a 17.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 3,094 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 $705,772.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 53,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,241,066.93. This represents a 5.45% decrease in their position. 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 three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.