UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Has $28.88 Million Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lowered its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 26.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 131,449 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 47,696 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $28,881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $1,022,916,000. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 218.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,369,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $302,494,000 after purchasing an additional 939,455 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in Waste Management by 163.7% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,400,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $309,317,000 after buying an additional 869,453 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,436,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,487,924,000 after buying an additional 774,255 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Waste Management by 3,209.2% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 681,366 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $150,466,000 after buying an additional 660,776 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on WM. Barclays raised their price objective on Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.30.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM opened at $218.90 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $223.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $224.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $248.13. The company has a market capitalization of $87.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

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

Waste Management Profile

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.