Machina Capital S.A.S. Grows Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Machina Capital S.A.S. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 79.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,839 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up approximately 0.9% of Machina Capital S.A.S.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 2,127 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Waste Management by 7.1% in the fourth 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. lifted its stake 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 worth $99,759,000 after acquiring an additional 28,266 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Waste Management by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 79,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,980,000 after acquiring an additional 4,798 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $229.51 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.75, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $218.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $214.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $235.81.

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 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 firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 4,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $941,181.86. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,288,582.29. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 75,173 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,967. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC raised their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

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.