Wellington Management Group LLP Buys 13,755 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 260,910 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,755 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 0.06% of Waste Management worth $52,649,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,209 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $849,000 after buying an additional 1,316 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $217,000. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 5,968 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,204,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USAdvisors Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $200,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. The trade was a 18.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 87,733 shares of company stock valued at $20,486,243. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective 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. National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $247.06.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM traded down $2.36 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $239.74. The company had a trading volume of 454,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,645,880. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $230.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.95. The stock has a market cap of $96.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $242.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.