Wealthfront Advisers LLC lowered its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM – Get Rating) by 34.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,936 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 11,106 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,313,607 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,597,207,000 after acquiring an additional 332,941 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 2.2% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,615,210 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,852,507,000 after acquiring an additional 673,451 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Waste Management by 4.2% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,533,636 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $889,809,000 after acquiring an additional 221,439 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $687,551,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Waste Management by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,223,694 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $371,134,000 after acquiring an additional 13,985 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.74% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 22,082 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $3,864,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,840,300. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, Director John C. Pope sold 219 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.19, for a total value of $33,329.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,439 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,437,261.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 22,082 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $3,864,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,840,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,067 shares of company stock valued at $9,292,271 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management (NYSE:WM – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 27th. The business services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.84 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 30.69%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 8th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WM shares. Oppenheimer set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $167.00.

About Waste Management

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Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides waste management environmental services to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in North America. 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, develops, and operates landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States, as well as owns and operates transfer stations.

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