Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $410.99 Million Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,036,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 252,847 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.51% of Waste Management worth $410,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 65.7% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $231.73 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $235.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.18 billion, a PE ratio of 34.08, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50-day moving average is $224.97 and its 200-day moving average is $216.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Equities analysts forecast 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 was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Waste Management Company 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.