Swiss National Bank Sells 57,900 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,160,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 57,900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $256,163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WM. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Sprott Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Management during the first quarter worth $325,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 26.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 8,747 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 70.7% during the 2nd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 18,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,218,000 after buying an additional 7,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 1.2% in the second quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WM shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.55.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $246.66 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $228.43 and a 200-day moving average of $219.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $99.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.57. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.25%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.13, for a total transaction of $150,628.21. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,345,356.91. This trade represents a 6.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total value of $1,955,413.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,656 shares in the company, valued at $24,177,625.92. This represents a 7.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 93,527 shares of company stock valued at $21,940,327 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.