Zions Bancorporation N.A. Boosts Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 44.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,630 shares during the quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Waste Management by 1.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,686,203,000 after purchasing an additional 168,818 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Waste Management by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,897,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $803,819,000 after buying an additional 25,801 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:WM opened at $227.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $223.47 and a 200 day moving average of $216.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $235.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. This represents a 18.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WM. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

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.