Headlands Technologies LLC Has $3.61 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 36.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 17,872 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,780 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WM. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 21.7% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,235 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,332,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in Waste Management by 54.0% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 83,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,355,000 after buying an additional 29,315 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in Waste Management during the third quarter valued at $16,245,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 3rd quarter worth about $64,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,046,109.78. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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 downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $231.73 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $224.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $216.79. The firm has a market cap of $93.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.08, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders 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 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 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.