Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 16,668 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 363,566 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 16,668 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.09% of Waste Management worth $73,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $340,611,000. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% during the fourth 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 period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 538,567 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Waste Management by 138.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $149,168,000 after buying an additional 416,579 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Trading Down 4.9 %

NYSE WM opened at $225.34 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $226.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $217.45. 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 market cap of $90.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $239.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Waste Management Company 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.