Wellington Management Group LLP Has $52.65 Million Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 260,910 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,755 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.07% of Waste Management worth $52,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Trading Down 4.9 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $225.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization 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 twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $239.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $217.45.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. This represents a 12.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % 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. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.