Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Buys 21,902 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 18.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 138,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,902 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $30,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 444.3% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,206,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $487,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800,728 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Waste Management by 218.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,369,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $302,494,000 after buying an additional 939,455 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in Waste Management by 163.7% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,400,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $309,317,000 after buying an additional 869,453 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 982.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 886,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $195,692,000 after buying an additional 804,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,436,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,487,924,000 after buying an additional 774,255 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.83, for a total transaction of $1,165,136.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 78,918 shares in the company, valued at $19,084,739.94. This represents a 5.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.27, for a total transaction of $29,677.67. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,293 shares in the company, valued at $2,279,294.11. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of WM opened at $235.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $248.13. The firm has a market cap of $94.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.11, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s fifty day moving average is $232.62 and its 200-day moving average is $221.14.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate 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 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.945 dividend. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on WM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 16th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.59.

Waste Management Company Profile

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.