Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Grows Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 25.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,201 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,639 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,526,823,000 after purchasing an additional 538,567 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 0.8% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 64,260 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,009,726,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $822,588,000 after purchasing an additional 224,279 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WM. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. CIBC raised their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two 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 $248.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Waste Management Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE WM traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $234.01. 1,319,477 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,621,733. The company has a 50 day moving average of $231.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $223.55. 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 firm has a market cap of $94.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $242.58.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

About Waste Management

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.