Sustainable Growth Advisers LP Sells 146,605 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sustainable Growth Advisers LP lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,863,378 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 146,605 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up approximately 2.4% of Sustainable Growth Advisers LP's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP owned about 0.46% of Waste Management worth $431,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 1.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 538,567 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 64,260 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,009,726,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $822,588,000 after buying an additional 224,279 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Waste Management by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,996,773 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $806,509,000 after buying an additional 465,789 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on WM. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Waste Management from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. HSBC raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. 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 report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, CIBC lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $252.41.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of WM traded up $2.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $230.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,558,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,609,112. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $242.58. The company's fifty day moving average price is $231.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.91. The stock has a market cap of $92.79 billion, a PE ratio of 34.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.64.

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 business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. The company's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is 49.77%.

Waste Management 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.