Payden & Rygel Has $242,000 Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Payden & Rygel cut its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 81.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,300 shares during the quarter. Payden & Rygel’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 8.8% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 177,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,854,000 after purchasing an additional 14,343 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 76.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 245,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $50,966,000 after acquiring an additional 106,700 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Consulting Group raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. Weaver Consulting Group now owns 1,323 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 98.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 57,553 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,872,000 after acquiring an additional 28,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. CIBC lifted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at $1,349,728.38. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 4.9 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $225.34 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $239.32. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $217.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results 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 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

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.