Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Stock Holdings Lifted by Covea Finance

Covea Finance increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 27.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 275,133 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 58,548 shares during the quarter. Waste Management accounts for about 2.9% of Covea Finance’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Covea Finance owned approximately 0.07% of Waste Management worth $63,696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its position in Waste Management by 811.1% during the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 9,102 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,837,000 after acquiring an additional 8,103 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 592,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $137,108,000 after acquiring an additional 24,023 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 34,617 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,985,000 after acquiring an additional 10,936 shares during the period. Finally, Fjell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $1,124,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the subject of a number of research reports. HSBC raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.00.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $231.94 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $242.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $233.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. The firm has a market cap of $93.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 35.67% and a net margin of 11.67%. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.75 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued 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, June 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.