Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 136,230 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 21,642 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $23,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $503,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 31.3% during the 1st quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 11,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,927,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, New Hampshire Trust boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 3.1% in the second quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 2,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 78.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $171.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $68.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average of $161.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $163.05. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $148.31 and a 52 week high of $173.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.27 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 11.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on WM. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Waste Management from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, October 23rd. Raymond James cut their price objective on Waste Management from $179.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Waste Management from $204.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Friday, September 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $192.00 price target on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.77.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 5,383 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $925,876.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 171,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,573,336. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 5,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $925,876.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,573,336. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 4,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $716,724.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 177,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,499,212. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.