Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Holdings Raised by Ycg LLC

Ycg LLC grew its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 249,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the quarter. Waste Management accounts for about 4.0% of Ycg LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Ycg LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $50,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,135,000 after buying an additional 2,127 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 6.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $99,759,000 after buying an additional 28,266 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 79,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,980,000 after buying an additional 4,798 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $224.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $90.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $219.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $215.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at $19,158,100.47. The trade was a 18.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. CIBC upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

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.