Twin Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Twin Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,167 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 144 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $340,611,000. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,265,629,000 after buying an additional 1,151,237 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,526,823,000 after acquiring an additional 538,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $60,668,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on WM shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC upped their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $220.22 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $239.32. The company has a market capitalization of $88.60 billion, a PE ratio of 32.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $226.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders 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 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 yield of 1.50%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 48.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.