Madison Asset Management LLC Invests $5.96 Million in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 26,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,962,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WM. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,022,916,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 279.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,075,906 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $236,387,000 after buying an additional 792,037 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 23,051.5% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 770,945 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,716,000 after buying an additional 767,615 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Waste Management by 3,209.2% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 681,366 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $150,466,000 after buying an additional 660,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Waste Management in the second quarter worth $146,053,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $264.00 to $263.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $258.89.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM opened at $225.17 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $227.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $227.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.44. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.04. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 31.68%. The firm had revenue of $6.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.13 EPS for the current year.

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.