Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 157,441 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Janus Henderson Group PLC cut its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 62.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 93,914 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 157,441 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $18,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $56,135,000 after buying an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares during the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 1,869,190 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $377,184,000 after purchasing an additional 11,940 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 278,890 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $55,929,000 after purchasing an additional 8,914 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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 report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $243.29.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock traded up $2.00 on Monday, hitting $231.87. 1,203,685 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,655,706. The company has a market cap of $93.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $239.32. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $228.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $221.67.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management's payout ratio is 49.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 3,094 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 $705,772.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 53,663 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,241,066.93. The trade was a 5.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 79,522 shares of company stock valued at $18,084,124. 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.