King Luther Capital Management Corp Decreases Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

King Luther Capital Management Corp decreased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 266,334 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 28,184 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned 0.07% of Waste Management worth $47,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WM. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Waste Management by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,963,527 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,061,521,000 after buying an additional 46,084 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 16.9% in the 3rd 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. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,213,330 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $794,174,000 after purchasing an additional 66,816 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $784,486,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,065,843 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $619,797,000 after purchasing an additional 90,129 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM traded up $1.64 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $209.97. 1,515,798 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,667,578. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.37, a PEG ratio of 2.71 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average of $209.57 and a 200-day moving average of $193.16.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Waste Management's payout ratio is 49.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $217.61.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total transaction of $363,937.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 55,591 shares in the company, valued at $11,353,349.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,282 shares of company stock valued at $2,754,889. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.