Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Purchases New Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 363,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $73,282,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.09% of Waste Management at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 65.7% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WM. HSBC upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on 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 reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $247.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 3,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $705,772.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 53,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,241,066.93. The trade was a 5.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,385 shares of company stock valued at $6,636,603 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $237.01 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $229.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.37. The company has a market cap of $95.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $239.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

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.