Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Acquired by Phoenix Financial Ltd.

Phoenix Financial Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value 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 $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total transaction of $152,868.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,046,109.78. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. 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. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.76.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $229.30 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $239.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.72, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $227.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $218.19.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.