Holocene Advisors LP Has $309.32 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 163.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,400,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 869,453 shares during the quarter. Holocene Advisors LP owned approximately 0.35% of Waste Management worth $309,317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Sprott Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 1st quarter worth approximately $325,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 43.4% in the 2nd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,032 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 1,825 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in Waste Management by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 89,810 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,550,000 after acquiring an additional 6,284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its holdings in Waste Management by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 157,170 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,964,000 after purchasing an additional 9,878 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of WM opened at $238.61 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $229.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.24 billion, a PE ratio of 35.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.57. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $194.11 and a 12-month high of $248.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.The firm had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.945 per share. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 56.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 7,352 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.50, for a total value of $1,724,044.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,644,130. This trade represents a 32.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 12,194 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.48, for a total transaction of $2,847,055.12. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 6,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,406,483.52. This represents a 66.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Waste Management from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.55.

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.