Ardevora Asset Management LLP Sells 100,308 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Ardevora Asset Management LLP reduced its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 51.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 92,958 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 100,308 shares during the quarter. Waste Management comprises 1.5% of Ardevora Asset Management LLP's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Ardevora Asset Management LLP's holdings in Waste Management were worth $16,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 3,563 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $638,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 5,829 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,044,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 211,935 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $37,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,215 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,992 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,610,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the period. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 48.9% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,400 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on WM. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $211.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.85.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock traded up $2.00 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $207.07. 1,354,304 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,594,248. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.71 and a 12 month high of $214.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $207.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.40.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion for 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 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 (DPR) is presently 53.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total transaction of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at $7,262,034.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total transaction of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at $7,262,034.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.