Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Voya Investment Management LLC

Voya Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,580 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,573 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $18,278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. General Partner Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 93,924 shares of company stock valued at $21,298,176. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WM. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $243.29.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM traded up $0.57 on Friday, hitting $233.97. 1,227,896 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,645,279. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $239.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The business's fifty day moving average is $228.21 and its 200 day moving average is $220.38.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for 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 was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

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.