Swiss National Bank Lowers Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Swiss National Bank lessened its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,266,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 41,900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.31% of Waste Management worth $226,866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. abrdn plc raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 315.7% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,457,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $222,165,000 after buying an additional 1,106,773 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 26,116.4% in the fourth quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 913,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $163,680,000 after acquiring an additional 910,418 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Waste Management by 16.9% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $827,815,000 after acquiring an additional 776,491 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its stake in Waste Management by 128.2% in the third quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 898,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $137,012,000 after acquiring an additional 504,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 13,927.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,319,000 after acquiring an additional 500,701 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total transaction of $69,075.44. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,641.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of WM traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $207.88. The company had a trading volume of 2,219,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,683,213. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $208.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.30. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $214.54. The company has a market capitalization of $83.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 49.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WM. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $214.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.24.

Waste Management Company 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.