Capital Research Global Investors Acquires 1,184,905 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 250.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,658,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,184,905 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors owned about 0.41% of Waste Management worth $334,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $340,611,000. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after buying an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 1.5% during the 4th 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, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 780.8% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 560,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $113,123,000 after acquiring an additional 496,952 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James raised 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. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note 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.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.76.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $230.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.95, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $227.89 and a 200-day moving average of $219.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,349,728.38. This represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last quarter. 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.