Guggenheim Capital LLC Acquires 10,477 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 385,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,477 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up approximately 0.6% of Guggenheim Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Guggenheim Capital LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $77,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,526,823,000 after purchasing an additional 538,567 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,654,173,000 after buying an additional 64,260 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,265,629,000 after buying an additional 1,151,237 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $1,009,726,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James upped their target price 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. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.76.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $232.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $93.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $239.32. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $227.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $218.47.

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 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, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

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.