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

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. 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 owned about 0.29% of Waste Management worth $256,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 101.5% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 133 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 47.0% in the third quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 12,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.48, for a total transaction of $2,847,055.12. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 6,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,406,483.52. This trade represents a 66.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total value of $4,171,464.31. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 44,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,674,944.26. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 93,527 shares of company stock valued at $21,940,327. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on WM shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $256.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $232.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.55.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $246.66 on Tuesday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $228.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $219.99. 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 $99.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.57.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a 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%.

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.