Vise Technologies Inc. Has $993,000 Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Vise Technologies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 54.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,921 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,742 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position 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 worth $334,716,000 after buying an additional 1,184,905 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $205,506,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:WM traded up $1.24 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $238.05. 1,791,378 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,663,075. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $229.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.48. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $239.48. The company has a market capitalization of $95.79 billion, a PE ratio of 35.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's payout ratio is 49.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. This trade represents a 18.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 4,126 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $941,181.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,385 shares of company stock valued at $6,636,603. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of several recent research reports. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Hsbc Global Res raised Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. HSBC raised Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday. Eight investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $247.06.

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.