ING Groep NV Cuts Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

ING Groep NV reduced its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 84.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 65,510 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,990,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,566,508,000 after purchasing an additional 553,605 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,993,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,972,371,000 after purchasing an additional 117,476 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,668,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,250,613,000 after purchasing an additional 277,250 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $1,022,916,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,954,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $873,276,000 after purchasing an additional 11,688 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.30.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $221.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.93. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $194.11 and a fifty-two week high of $248.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $223.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $224.65. The company has a market capitalization of $88.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.00, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.45.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.90% and a net margin of 10.99%.The business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. Analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.945 dividend. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.70%.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.