Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Sells 6,296 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV cut its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 47,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,296 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $9,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,135,000 after buying an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Waste Management by 7.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 6.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $99,759,000 after acquiring an additional 28,266 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 79,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,980,000 after purchasing an additional 4,798 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank upped their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.29.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.2 %

WM opened at $233.97 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $239.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $228.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $220.38. The company has a market capitalization of $94.13 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.75 EPS. Analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.825 dividend. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,246.40. This represents a 12.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,924 shares of company stock valued at $21,298,176. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.