Rhumbline Advisers Sells 43,089 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Rhumbline Advisers cut its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 779,484 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 43,089 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Waste Management were worth $157,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after buying an additional 2,588,842 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 11.3% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 32.1% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $374,062,000 after purchasing an additional 437,613 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Waste Management by 138.0% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $149,168,000 after purchasing an additional 416,579 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.1 %

WM opened at $227.80 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $212.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.96. The company has a market capitalization of $91.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $230.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. Analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James increased their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This trade represents a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at $10,046,109.78. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.