DnB Asset Management AS Has $34.66 Million Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

DnB Asset Management AS increased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 171,776 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,869 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $34,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WM. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 27,280 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,663,000 after buying an additional 2,133 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Waste Management by 5.2% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 34,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 18.2% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 97,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,226,000 after purchasing an additional 3,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,235 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,332,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total transaction of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,246.40. This trade represents a 12.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, 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 90 days, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on WM. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James raised their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management 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. Finally, CIBC upped their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $229.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.15 billion, a PE ratio of 33.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $224.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $216.37. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $235.81.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. Analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.