Martingale Asset Management L P Has $25.04 Million Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Martingale Asset Management L P decreased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 113,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 12,206 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $25,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,436,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,487,924,000 after buying an additional 774,255 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,647,146 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,972,856,000 after acquiring an additional 126,329 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,390,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,232,131,000 after acquiring an additional 74,528 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,064,206,000. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 8.6% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,596,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $804,809,000 after purchasing an additional 284,733 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total transaction of $4,171,464.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 44,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,674,944.26. The trade was a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 7,352 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.50, for a total transaction of $1,724,044.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,644,130. This represents a 32.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Waste Management from $232.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. DZ Bank started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Waste Management from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.55.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.0%

Waste Management stock opened at $238.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50-day moving average is $229.41 and its 200-day moving average is $220.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.38 billion, a PE ratio of 35.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.57. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $194.11 and a fifty-two week high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The firm had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.25%.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.