Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by Thematics Asset Management

Thematics Asset Management increased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 59,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the quarter. Thematics Asset Management’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $12,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at $19,158,100.47. This represents a 18.34 % 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 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. Citigroup boosted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.76.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $230.84 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $227.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.95, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year 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.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released 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 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.825 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

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.