Baring Financial LLC Takes Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Baring Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,074 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $419,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,686,203,000 after purchasing an additional 168,818 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after buying an additional 520,096 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after acquiring an additional 2,588,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 12.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,175,000 after acquiring an additional 276,287 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $209.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $84.26 billion, a PE ratio of 32.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $184.72 and a fifty-two week high of $230.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $212.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.29.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The business had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on WM shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. CIBC increased their price target on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.39.

Waste Management Company 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.