Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Cuts Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,013,960 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 97,145 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.25% of Waste Management worth $204,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,526,823,000 after acquiring an additional 538,567 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,654,173,000 after purchasing an additional 64,260 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,237 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $1,009,726,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WM traded up $4.75 on Wednesday, reaching $233.55. 1,954,835 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,650,381. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $239.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $227.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $219.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $242.35.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at $19,158,100.47. This trade represents a 18.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.