Mirova US LLC Acquires 910,418 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Mirova US LLC raised its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 26,116.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 913,904 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 910,418 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up about 2.5% of Mirova US LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Mirova US LLC owned 0.23% of Waste Management worth $163,680,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Waste Management by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,370,481 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,156,281,000 after buying an additional 1,718,449 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Waste Management by 16.9% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $827,815,000 after purchasing an additional 776,491 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,213,330 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $794,174,000 after purchasing an additional 66,816 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,112,019 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $801,972,000 after purchasing an additional 160,466 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 110,208.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,778,550 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $749,659,000 after buying an additional 4,774,218 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of WM stock traded up $1.17 on Wednesday, hitting $206.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,192,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,680,857. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.71 and a 12-month high of $214.54. The stock has a market cap of $82.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average of $206.30 and a 200 day moving average of $184.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. The firm 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 last year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is 53.00%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,507 shares of company stock worth $4,157,770 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.85.

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.