Wealthfront Advisers LLC Purchases 201,621 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 375.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 255,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 201,621 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $51,529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in Waste Management by 7.6% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,741,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $361,450,000 after buying an additional 122,696 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the third quarter worth about $944,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 10.1% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,077 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 217.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,764 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,064,000 after purchasing an additional 10,109 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on WM. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the firm’s 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 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock opened at $227.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $218.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $214.94. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $235.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $91.57 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released 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, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

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.