Impax Asset Management Group plc Sells 176,826 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Impax Asset Management Group plc lessened its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,847,956 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 176,826 shares during the quarter. Waste Management accounts for 1.3% of Impax Asset Management Group plc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned 0.46% of Waste Management worth $330,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 3,459 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 2,369 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.7% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 3,881 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dfpg Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 9,297 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,660,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total value of $1,738,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,816,516. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total value of $1,738,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,838 shares in the company, valued at $27,816,516. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,242 shares of company stock valued at $5,929,355 in the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on WM. UBS Group cut Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, HSBC lowered Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.85.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM traded down $0.22 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $206.48. 1,780,678 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,700,160. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.48, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.72. The business's fifty day moving average is $204.50 and its 200-day moving average is $182.47. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $149.71 and a one year high of $214.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 36.51% and a net margin of 11.28%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is 53.00%.

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.